Petaluma’s Kevin Briggs honored for Golden Gate Bridge suicide-prevention work as CHP officer

The National Council for Behavioral Health has honored a retired Bay Area CHP sergeant who gained local fame for his work preventing suicides on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Kevin Briggs of Petaluma, who retired in 2013 after 23 years with the CHP, was among four people from across the country the council honored with a 2016 Visionary Leadership award for their achievements in the mental health field.

Briggs is credited with talking more than 200 people out of jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, one of the world’s most prominent suicide locations. Briggs developed an interest and skill in the delicate art of listening and communicating with people in crisis during the 18 years he patrolled the bridge.

Briggs wrote about his experience, with co-author Sam Mellinger, in the 2015 book “Guardians of the Golden Gate: Protecting the Line Between Hope and Despair.” He now speaks nationally about his experiences and to promote suicide prevention at conferences and schools and with law enforcement and other professional groups.

The council is a national association of mental health and addictions treatment organizations. The awards were given March 8 in Las Vegas.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.