T police officer prevents suicide in Davis Sq station

[ron_newman]

Was anyone here in Davis Square station Monday night around 7 pm when this happened?

As train roars in, T officer saves man: Lifts him from subway pit

Comments

[damsel-ophelia.livejournal.com]

Wow...I must have literally just missed this! Kudos to the officer!

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Damn. Good job. I was out last night and didn't come in to Davis until nearly 10, so I missed this. Definitely a wow.

[tracy-rolling.livejournal.com]

Wow!

[madfilkentist]

It's nice to learn that some MBTA people do a great job. He deserves all the more congratulations for acting so effectively in an organization which seems to encourage indifference to the public.

[ifotismeni]

wow! kudos to that officer!

[hotpoint.livejournal.com]

I took the train from Alewife to Davis just as that was happening. We were held briefly (no more than two minutes) at Alewife after the conductor announced that "police activity in Davis" was delaying our train, and then when I exited Davis there were police cars and officers in the busway with a man in handcuffs bent over one car's trunk.

[yagagriswold.livejournal.com]

Somerville and Cambridge police impress the hell out of me.

[ron_newman]

This, however, was an MBTA police officer.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

Nice to know that waving a flashlight at a train is specifically a signal for it to stop. I doubt that I'll ever have reason to know this specifically but I'll ad it to my cache of knowlege of this sort.

[ron_newman]

That might be useful when you are waiting for a commuter train at a "flag stop" at some very poorly lit rural or suburban station.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

Which brings up the question: Is this a signal for emergency stop or just to stop?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

I believe neither. My understanding is that it is a signal for (work)men on the tracks. If you watch when a train passes workmen, they will often wave the train by by flashing or waving a lantern or flashlight. I believe it is the same with NYCT. There are also yellow and red flags that workment place alongside the tracks which have similar warnings. I think any misplaced person on the tracks is a cause for an emergency stop.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

My question was more whether this was inappropriate for making sure the conductor sees you at the commuter rail stops where the train only stops if they see waiting passengers as Ron Newman suggested..

[znhoward.livejournal.com]

True, though I'm usually not carrying a flashlight on the T. Maybe it works with cellphones?

[xuth.livejournal.com]

I've found that a good flashlight is useful more often than a leatherman type multi-tool. To that end (in defiance of long held geek tradition) I have a bright (but fairly small) flashlight on my belt and a tiny (less than 2 inch) Leatherman in my pocket.