Dramatic video shows NYPD cop break down in tears after talking suicidal man off ledge

NEW YORK - A dramatic, emotional counter caught on body camera video shows a NYPD cop breaking down in tears after helping to talk a suicidal man off of an overpass on the Upper West Side.

In a video posted to X by the department, Officer Carl Fayette's body camera video shows him calmly but persistently urging a suicidal man to get off the ledge on an overpass above the Riverside Drive Highway on October 5.

Officer Fayette and another officer, Eleodoro Mata both plead with the man to accept help. 

"I believe like you're a good man. You're a good man I promise you brother I promise you we will do anything in our power to help you," Officer Fayette told the man.

Forty tense minutes passed as police continued to talk the man before Emergency Service Unit members pull the man to safety. 

As the man is brought to safety, Officer Fayette can be seen becoming overcome with emotion, crouching down and sobbing.

The dramatic rescue shines a spotlight on the stress police officers face on the job. 

"These are human beings that every day do a job, that we make them not human," said Stephanie Samuels, a psychotherapist who works with law enforcement.

Samuels is the founder of a non-profit crisis service called Copline. Officers can call 1-800-copline to get 24/7  confidential counseling from retired cops. 

"The concern for them is always that if they seek help, that there will be some type of retaliatory action that's done for having done so," Samuels said.

Samuels said that when she watched the bodycam video, she was impressed with how Officers Fayette and Mata responded. 

"What I really saw was an officer that had connected with somebody was absolutely relieved that it worked out the way it did and kind of an emotional dump that I think many of us have experienced in our own lives after a situation is resolved and resolved well," Samuels said.