Gadgetopia

Cop ‘talks’ online to suicidal teenager - Instant messaging persuades boy to abandon threat: A cop talked a kid out of suicide over IM.

At about 9 p.m. Thursday, a young woman called Fremont police to report that her 16-year-old ex-boyfriend was despondent and had threatened suicide while sending her instant messages, or IMs, said Fremont police Detective Bill Veteran.

[…] Delgado, an overnight patrol sergeant who is a trained hostage negotiator, went to the girlfriend’s home in Fremont’s Warm Springs neighborhood. From her computer, Delgado initiated an IM conversation with the boy.