Kevin Briggs

As an international Crisis Management, Suicide Prevention, and Leadership Skills presenter, Sergeant Kevin Briggs’ story and lived experiences have been featured at the Technology, Entertainment, and Design 2014 Conference as a TED Talk, Ciudad de Las Ideas (Mexico), NBC’s Access Live, Yahoo News, The New Yorker Magazine, Men’s Health Magazine, NPR’s Bob Edwards Radio Show, People Magazine, USA Today, as well as other magazines, newspapers, radio, and podcasts across the world. His first book, Guardian of the Golden Gate: Protecting the Line Between Hope and Despair, was released in July 2015.

Briggs, a retired California Highway Patrol sergeant, spent many years patrolling the Golden Gate Bridge. While on patrol, he encountered numerous individuals clinging to life by a thread—individuals who had lost hope and could see no way out of their current situation—ready to jump off the bridge to what they assumed was a sudden death and the end of their pain and hopelessness. Briggs, through his compassion, gentle voice, eye contact, and his innate ability of “listening to understand,” encouraged more than 200 individuals over his career to either not go over the bridge’s rail or come back to solid ground from where they had been standing precariously out on the chord of the bridge and start a new chapter in their life. These challenging but rewarding efforts earned him the nickname “Guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge.”

After a 23-year career with the California Highway Patrol, Briggs retired to dedicate his life to promoting mental health awareness worldwide through Pivotal Points, an organization he founded. In addition to mental health and suicide prevention, Briggs speaks on crisis management and leadership skills. His personal story includes being a cancer survivor, overcoming heart issues, divorce, PTSD, and depression. Briggs is also a survivor of suicide loss.

Today, Briggs is mapping a movement as he speaks and trains others in suicide prevention, crisis management and negotiations. He shares his “Listening to Understand” skills followed up with key active listening points; his personal triad for healthy living; his RELEASE model to assist in communicating with someone in crisis and his crisis safety plan for those who may be struggling. He also discusses in depth his own personal mental health struggles. Briggs spends the majority of his time speaking/teaching at conferences, advocacy events, colleges and universities, first responder conferences, law enforcement (including FBI & Secret Service), and military bases. He also works with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), corporations, and other venues.