New York police officer Cristian Yepes had spent eight months training for his new assignment. It took just three days on the job to face a life-or-death test nearly 60 metres above the East River.
The newly assigned Emergency Service Unit officer helped save a woman in distress from the top of the Brooklyn Bridge on July 8, according to the New York Police Department.
The Emergency Service Unit handles some of the city’s most dangerous rescue operations. Yepes had joined the elite team after serving seven years as a patrol officer.
When the call came in, he and his fellow officers climbed the bridge and began speaking with the woman. They spent roughly an hour trying to gain her trust and convince her to accept their help.
Body camera footage captured one simple promise from Yepes.
“I got you, I promise,” he told her.
When the opportunity came, Yepes wrapped his arms around the woman and brought her to safety.
“The care, courage, and compassion these officers showed was just extraordinary,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a statement on social media.
For Yepes, the moment was the reason he had completed the unit’s demanding training.
“This is what I’ve been training for, this is what I’ve prepared for,” he said in an interview. “And my ultimate goal is to make sure everyone’s safe.”
The Brooklyn Bridge operation was one of three rescues completed by the same unit within a single week.
But despite the equipment, specialist training and danger surrounding the rescue, Yepes said the connection that helped save the woman came down to something much simpler.
“Yeah, we have the uniform. Yes, we’re police officers,” he said, “but we’re just human at the end of the day.”
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