HOBOKEN AND BEYOND — What should law enforcement officials do if a local man keeps jumping or threatening to jump in the Hudson River, forcing Hoboken police, firefighters, and the ambulance corps to respond alongside the New York City Police Department’s river patrol to save him?
In the state of New Jersey, and locally here in Hoboken, the police may refer the person to health care professionals, who decide if a person should be involuntarily committed for psychiatric treatment. The police say they are doing that. But it seems that so far, health professionals have not forced him into long-term treatment.
Over the past few years, a Hoboken resident has been calling police, threatening to jump in the Hudson River, and sometimes acting on his threats, according to police reports and media accounts dating back to at least 2009.
Is someone dropping the ball? To read more from this past weekend’s Hoboken Reporter, click here. Leave comments below the story.