Three Woodbury Public Safety employees were honored Wednesday for helping save the life of a man in crisis during a tense, multi-agency response on the St. Croix River Crossing bridge earlier this year.
The recognition came during the Woodbury City Council meeting, where Steve Hansen, chief of the Oak Park Heights Police Department, presented letters of excellence and appreciation to Detective Kim Richardson, Detective Caitlin Jaworski and Community Service Officer Stephanie Sosa. The three also will be formally recognized by Woodbury Public Safety at a future departmental awards ceremony.
The awards stem from a May 21 incident in which the three responded to a report of a suicidal man on the St. Croix River Crossing bridge. Hansen said the incident typically prompted a request for the SWAT-affiliated crisis negotiation team and that seven law enforcement agencies arrived at the scene.
“Facing a highly tense and dangerous situation, you deployed exceptional de-escalation skills and acted with immense compassion, working seamlessly as a team, with our responding officers, your calm demeanor and active listening and tactical communication were instrumental in the outcome,” Hansen said while reading from his letter. “Thanks to your efforts, the male individual was successfully negotiated back over the railing and transitioned into a safe environment to receive the help he needed. Your actions that day directly saved a human life and prevented a tragedy.”
According to a Woodbury Public Safety social media post, Sosa, who is fluent in Spanish, served as the primary translator after officers learned the man spoke only Spanish. Richardson and Jaworski, both trained crisis negotiators, worked to build rapport and de-escalate the situation while Sosa translated. Together with officers from the other responding agencies, they spent nearly an hour talking with the man until he stepped away from the railing and agreed to be transported to a hospital.
Hansen also noted that this marked the second successful bridge crisis negotiation for Jaworski, who responded to a similar incident in 2021.
“Your professionalism exemplifies the highest standards of law enforcement and highlights the vital importance of interagency teamwork during critical incidents,” Hansen said.
