Delta police chief wants barriers for Alex Fraser Bridge
Posted April 29, 2017 8:33 am.
Last Updated April 29, 2017 9:02 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
DELTA (NEWS 1130) – The Delta Police Chief wants barriers installed on the Alex Fraser Bridge to stop people from taking their lives there.
“We find ourselves going out to the Alex Fraser Bridge very frequently to be able to help people who are in crisis. Two occasions here last week our officers had to pull someone who had already climbed over the railing,” says Police Chief Neil Dubord.
The Burrard Bridge and Ironworkers Memorial Bridge both have suicide barriers, and Dubord says the bridge in his community could use them too.
“Just last week, for example, we were out there three times overall in the week and twice with the same person.”
He says there have been discussions about installing barriers and even crisis-line phones on the bridge.
“Those kinds of renovations to a bridge are obviously very expensive, in addition they are difficult to do when that bridge is fully operational.”
But Dubord acknowledges barriers still wouldn’t address the root of the problem, or what causes people to take their own lives.
“If the Alex Fraser Bridge is done, what about the other methods people are using?”
In San Francisco, a suicide net is being installed at the Golden Gate Bridge.
You can listen to the full interview with Delta Police Chief Neil Dubord here.
