The rapid intervention of National Police officers prevented an eighteen-year-old girl from jumping from the roof of a six-floor Palma apartment block on Sunday.
Around two in the afternoon, the girl's mother phoned the emergency health number 061 to call for help. Her daughter had climbed onto the roof. She was in a highly agitated condition and was threatening to jump.
Inspector César was with three other officers who went to the property in Son Armadans after a first patrol had arrived at the scene. He explains that the situation was very serious. The girl was agitated and unstable. She was crying and wanted to be alone. She was sitting on the wall of the roof - some thirty metres from the ground - and her feet were hanging over the edge. The girl referred to family disputes, and the police had ascertained that there were "psychiatric" issues.
He adds that the officers had to act quickly. They couldn't wait for a specialist police negotiator. One of them, Manu, took on that role, while another - Xisco - sought to gain her trust and time to allow the inspector to get access to the roof and to be in a position to grab her. "It was very difficult and psychologically intense, especially for first patrol that had spent twenty minutes negotiating with her."
The inspector explains that it was a situation in which quick decisions had to be made. "We saw that things were getting worse." He praises the "human qualities" of the officers involved.
The girl was later taken to Son Espases Hospital and admitted to the psychiatric wing.