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Golden Gate Bridge Suicides

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Oh I was referring to my inability to notice my child's spiral into depression and subsequent suicide. A parent ought to be able to notice that kind of thing in their own kids. If not than they must of messed up somewhere along the road.

But I get what you mean.


I think it`s a difficult, delicate line. Some parents may be aware of their child having problems and may be trying to help the child but at some point the child snaps and gives up. Or like the case of my schoolmate, it was a rash decision. The girl is happily in love and goes off to school as usual but her boyfriend suddenly breaks up with her at school and she feels her life is over and runs in front of a car. The parents had no chance to intervene. Then you have some cases where the parents may feel something is wrong with their teen and try to talk to the teen but the teen doesn`t talk, and people just tell the parents that teens go through phases like this so not to worry too much. And there is truth to that. Teens are often moody and often withdraw from parents as they try to establish their own identity. Moreover, not all teens are super dramatic about their struggles in life. Then you can have teens that have mental problems and are on medication and medical supervision but something just flips one day. So personally I would be very cautious before I instantly placed any blame on the parents.
 
I`d be completely opposed to paying patrols on the bridge because all they would do is arrest and lock up these people. I prefer the retired Japanese policeman`s approach to just go on his own and talk to any potential suicidal people. Surely if someone really cared from a church or society they could do the same thing but with the motive of love not money/career. Why do we have to hire someone to patrol for suicidal people? It sounds so cold and controlling like a person does not even have the freedom to take their own life. It is the government`s choice. I don`t believe that. I`m not supporting suicide because as a Christian I believe life and death should be in the hands of God, but I`m really opposed to taking the stance that individual lives are treated like government property.
No I am not saying that government should run the peoples lives but the bridge is owned by them. Churches should patrol that bridge too.
 
I see what you mean. I wouldn't blame the parents (usually, I mean there are situations where I totally would), but if I was a parent in that situation I think I would have to put heat on myself. Even if, as you suggest, it is a snap decision. Seems to me parents should educate their children in how to rationalize and make sound decisions and especially they need to be teach their kids how to cope with the inevitable heart-break.
 
I see what you mean. I wouldn't blame the parents (usually, I mean there are situations where I totally would), but if I was a parent in that situation I think I would have to put heat on myself. Even if, as you suggest, it is a snap decision. Seems to me parents should educate their children in how to rationalize and make sound decisions and especially they need to be teach their kids how to cope with the inevitable heart-break.

I agree and as a parent I`m sure I`d be questioning too what I did wrong if one of my children killed themselves. I don`t know if parents can escape such feelings even in cases when they did their best. But for other parents, I really think I would extend a lot of mercy and compassion because I know kids do not always 100% follow all they`ve been taught. And I know raising kids is tough. A parent can do their best and things can still go wrong. And some things are just unforeseeable. You can`t teach your child every single thing. You give them the best toolbox you can, but life is tough and using those tools for the first time can be a clumsy experience for kids. Parents want to be there to help use the tools but by the teen years the kids are often having to use the tools on their own. Parents are not beside them holding the screwdriver in their hands anymore.
 
No I am not saying that government should run the peoples lives but the bridge is owned by them. Churches should patrol that bridge too.

But if you put police and church people on the bridge, it won`t work because the police must take control. The duty of the church person would probably be to alert the police and the police would handle it by arresting & locking up the suicidal person. I would not go on the bridge if I had to turn the person over to the police. That would be like stabbing them in the back to tell them to climb down only to be thrown in a cell and probably a solitary confinement cell. I simply could not do that. I`ve known suicidal people and I`ve never reported a single one and probably never will. I talk to them and share with them hope and in every circumstance I have been in, that is all they needed. I just think it`s cruel to lock up a person because they are hurting and have lost hope. What crime is that?
 
But if you put police and church people on the bridge, it won`t work because the police must take control. The duty of the church person would probably be to alert the police and the police would handle it by arresting & locking up the suicidal person. I would not go on the bridge if I had to turn the person over to the police. That would be like stabbing them in the back to tell them to climb down only to be thrown in a cell and probably a solitary confinement cell. I simply could not do that. I`ve known suicidal people and I`ve never reported a single one and probably never will. I talk to them and share with them hope and in every circumstance I have been in, that is all they needed. I just think it`s cruel to lock up a person because they are hurting and have lost hope. What crime is that?
Hmmm:chinI guess your right.
 
This guy survived and is helping others.
[video=youtube;dTeytkxlDt8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTeytkxlDt8[/video]
 
Hmmm:chinI guess your right.
no,no, no. police dont arrest a suicidal person, suicide isnt a crime. its called baker act!!!!!!!! meaning they take them to the persons who can help them, they hold them for three days and watch them and treat them and realease them if they no longer are danger to themselves or others. i have nearly baker acted my wife.
 
no,no, no. police dont arrest a suicidal person, suicide isnt a crime. its called baker act!!!!!!!! meaning they take them to the persons who can help them, they hold them for three days and watch them and treat them and realease them if they no longer are danger to themselves or others. i have nearly baker acted my wife.
A involuntary admission is called a 302 and voluntary is called a 201.
 
A involuntary admission is called a 302 and voluntary is called a 201.
yes but thats still not a crime. i dont know the codes for that here.

ah that reminds me. that baby death from what i gather was an accident. cause not listed in the obituary.
 
ok. hmm i could ask. i know and work with cops when they need work done on their crown victorias. still you prove my point being depressed or in need of psychological help simply isnt a crime.and baker act can also include being in a fit from hypo and hyperglycemia.
 
well i cant say that i fully understand what it is to have depression or bp or any other psychosis. my wife hates the stigma of bp. and would say the same thing.
 
Suicide isn't a crime, however the 48 hour detention window still applies to anyone "arrested" (detained, technically) for attempted suicide. They usually do this if the person needs to dry out because they cannot properly do a psychological examination if they are in the throws of drug or alcohol abuse.

Basically they hold people until they are sober and then they turn them over to the institute, this way they can get the 3 full days of examination instead of two or even just one (depending on what substance they were using). Often times, if the psychologist comes back stating that they are in perfect mental health and the suicide was due to their substance abuse they will be arrested for being under the influence in public (whatever your area's term for this is, around here it's like a class 2 disorderly or something). They do this because its the only way to get people into a program to get clean.
 
Riverwolf made Lewis jump at gun point.
full-body-cast.jpg

 
Suicide isn't a crime, however the 48 hour detention window still applies to anyone "arrested" (detained, technically) for attempted suicide. They usually do this if the person needs to dry out because they cannot properly do a psychological examination if they are in the throws of drug or alcohol abuse.

Basically they hold people until they are sober and then they turn them over to the institute, this way they can get the 3 full days of examination instead of two or even just one (depending on what substance they were using). Often times, if the psychologist comes back stating that they are in perfect mental health and the suicide was due to their substance abuse they will be arrested for being under the influence in public (whatever your area's term for this is, around here it's like a class 2 disorderly or something). They do this because its the only way to get people into a program to get clean.

I couldn`t report someone thinking of suicide under these circumstances. I mean the person may not be technically arrested, but they are are handcuffed, probably searched, and put in solitary confinement in a jail for this 48 hour window which is degrading to humans I think. Then they are likely to be handed over to an institution or officially arrested for drug use. I wouldn`t do that to a suicidal person. It`s cruel.
 
Updated 2/13/2014

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is the second most used suicide site in the world, after the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge (see List of suicide sites).[70] The deck is about 245 feet (75 m) above the water.[71] After a fall of four seconds, jumpers hit the water at around 75 mph or about 120 km/h. Most of the jumpers die from impact trauma. About 5% of the jumpers survive the initial impact but generally drown or die of hypothermia in the cold water.[72][73]

Most suicidal jumps occur on the side facing the bay. The side facing the Pacific is closed to pedestrians.[74]

An official suicide count was kept until year 1995,[75] sorted according to which of the bridge's 128 lamp posts the jumper was nearest when he or she jumped.[76] The official count ended on June 5, 1995 on the 997th jump;[77] jumper No. 1000, Eric Atkinson (25), jumped on July 3, 1995.[75] By 2012 the unofficial count exceeded 1,600 (in which the body was recovered or someone saw the jump)[78] and new suicides were occurring about once every two weeks, with the "record" of 40 in 1977, according to a San Francisco Chronicle analysis.[79] The most suicides in one month were in August 2013, when 10 jumped, one every three days. The youngest jumper has been 5 year old Marilyn DeMont, who was told to jump and was followed by her father in June 1945.[73][78][80]

For comparison, the reported third most popular place to commit suicide in the world, Aokigahara Forest in Japan, has a record of 78 bodies, found within the forest in 2002, with an average of 30 a year.[81] There were 34 bridge-jump suicides in 2006 whose bodies were recovered, in addition to four jumps that were witnessed but whose bodies were never recovered, and several bodies recovered suspected to be from bridge jumps. The California Highway Patrol removed 70 apparently suicidal people from the bridge that year.[82]

There is no accurate figure on the number of suicides or completed jumps since 1937, because many were not witnessed. People have been known to travel to San Francisco specifically to jump off the bridge, and may take a bus or cab to the site; police sometimes find abandoned rental cars in the parking lot. Currents beneath the bridge are strong and some jumpers have undoubtedly been washed out to sea without being seen.

The fatality rate of jumping is roughly 98%. As of July 2013, only 34 people are known to have survived the jump.[45] Those who do survive strike the water feet-first and at a slight angle, although individuals may still sustain broken bones or internal injuries. One young woman, Sarah Rutledge Birnbaum, survived, but returned to jump again and died the second time.[83] One young man survived a jump in 1979, swam to shore, and drove himself to a hospital. The impact cracked several of his vertebrae.[84] On March 10, 2011, 17-year-old Luhe "Otter" Vilagomez from Windsor High School in Windsor, California, survived a jump from the bridge, breaking his coccyx and puncturing one lung, though he said his attempt was for "fun" and not suicide. The teen was helped to shore by Frederic Lecouturier, 55, who was surfing under the bridge when he saw Vilagomez jump.[85][86] The California Highway Patrol ("CHP") recommended that the San Francisco District Attorney's Office charge the student with misdemeanor trespassing (a charge which entails climbing any rail, cable, suspender rope, tower or superstructure not intended for public use), punishable by up to a year in the county jail and/or a fine up to $10,000. Additionally, the CHP Marin Area recommended the teen undergo a medical/psychiatric evaluation by medical professionals.[87][88]

continued below
 
continued

Engineering professor Natalie Jeremijenko, as part of her "Bureau of Inverse Technology" art collective, created a "Despondency Index" by correlating the Dow Jones Industrial Average with the number of jumpers detected by "Suicide Boxes" containing motion-detecting cameras, which she claimed to have set up under the bridge.[89] The boxes purportedly recorded 17 jumps in three months, far greater than the official count. The Whitney Museum, although questioning whether Jeremijenko's suicide-detection technology actually existed, nevertheless included her project in its prestigious Whitney Biennial.[90]

Various methods have been tried to reduce the number of suicides. The bridge is fitted with suicide-hotline telephones and staff patrol the bridge in carts, looking for people who appear to be planning to jump. Ironworkers on the bridge also volunteer their time to prevent suicides by talking to or wrestling down suicidal people.[91] The bridge is now closed to pedestrians at night. Cyclists are still permitted across at night, but can buzz themselves in and out through the remotely-controlled security gates.[92] Attempts to introduce a suicide barrier have been thwarted by engineering difficulties, high costs, and public opposition.[93] One recurring proposal had been to build a barrier to replace or augment the low railing, a component of the bridge's original architectural design. New barriers have eliminated suicides at other landmarks around the world, but were opposed for the Golden Gate Bridge for reasons of cost, aesthetics, and safety, as the load from a poorly-designed barrier could significantly affect the bridge's structural integrity during a strong windstorm.

Strong appeals for a suicide barrier, fence, or other preventive measures were raised again by a well-organized vocal minority of psychiatry professionals, suicide barrier consultants, and families of jumpers beginning in January 2005. These efforts were given momentum by two films dealing with the topic of suicide and the Golden Gate Bridge. On January 14, 2005 the San Francisco Chronicle published an op-ed[clarification needed] by writer-director Jenni Olson calling for a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. The letter was, in part, an excerpt from the script of her film The Joy of Life, which world-premiered the following week, on January 20, 2005, at the Sundance Film Festival. The day before, on January 19, 2005, the Chronicle broke the news that filmmaker Eric Steel had been shooting suicide leaps from the bridge during 2004 for his film The Bridge, which would be released in 2006. A week later, The Joy of Life world-premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and video copies of the film were circulated to members of the Bridge District board of directors with the help of the Psychiatric Foundation of Northern California.

In the fall of 2005 the San Francisco Chronicle published a seven-part series of articles, titled "Lethal Beauty", focusing on the problem of suicide and the Golden Gate Bridge and emphasizing that a solution was not only possible but desirable.[72]

The 2006 release of The Bridge exerted additional pressure on the Bridge District and created continued public awareness. Filmmaker Eric Steel and his production crew spent 2004 filming the bridge from several vantage points, in order to film actual suicide jumps. The film caught 23 jumps, most notably that of Gene Sprague, as well as a handful of thwarted attempts. The film also contained interviews with surviving family members of those who jumped; interviews with witnesses; and, in one segment, an interview with Kevin Hines who, as a 19-year-old in 2000, survived a suicide plunge from the span and is now a vocal advocate for some type of bridge barrier or net to prevent such incidents.

On October 10, 2008 the Golden Gate Bridge Board of Directors voted 14 to 1 to install a plastic-covered stainless-steel net below the bridge as a suicide deterrent. The net will extend 20 feet (6 m) on either side of the bridge and is expected to cost $40–50 million to complete.[94][95][96] However, lack of funding could delay the net's deployment.[97][needs update]Kevin Briggs, a highway patrolman on the bridge, is credited with saving hundreds of lives of would-be jumpers by talking to them before they can take the plunge.[98] Despite past suicides, Briggs and others in his department estimate that they save at least 80–90% of people bent on jumping thanks to cameras and their own dialogue.
 
I see that since I last posted this topic a couple of years ago' the suicides continue with at least 3 or more a month. That is with the ones that are seen' because some people jump and nobody sees them jump and they are washed out to sea. Or they find their cars on the parking lot. People are still traveling all the way across the country just to jump off of the Golden Gate Bridge' dropping for 4 seconds and hitting the water at 75 mph' to their deaths' about 1 to 2 percent survive. One woman survived and was rescued and when she got out of the hospital she returned to the bridge and jumped successfully this time to her death. What is it about that bridge.
 
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