California cops want spider guns

[Triad]

Article

Monday, April 26, 2004 Posted: 7:18 PM EDT (2318 GMT)


SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- Attention Spiderman: California needs you. The state highway patrol, hoping to avoid another epic traffic jam caused by a suicide jumper on a major bridge, wants inventors to design and build a gun that can capture would-be jumpers in a spider-like web.

"At this point we're about ready to put out a request for a proposal," said California Highway Patrol spokesman Tom Marshall. "And we'll just see if there's some technology that might be usable."

The idea for a suicide spider gun was first floated by a local radio talk-show host following a 13-hour standoff between cops and a blade-wielding man threatening to jump off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Marshall said.

After hours in traffic, some motorists were so furious that some yelled out for the man to jump.

The April 2 incident cost the highway patrol an estimated $100,000 in overtime and other expenses, Marshall said, not to mention the costs of the delays to the region.

The stand-off came to a close only after the man, exhausted, curled up on the platform and a SWAT team stunned him with a bean-bag gun. He now faces criminal charges.

"Any time you tie up a major artery like the Bay Bridge, you want to look at what could we do that would be different," Marshall said.

 

[k8ysv]

Why not just clear traffic back, tell them to go ahead and jump, clean up and continue on. All that would cost would be the price of a shovel, mop and bucket.

Easy for you, easy for them...

 

[Country Boy]

k8ysv - That is the most insensitive thing I've read all week. Can we be friends?

 

[angrywalkindude]

For some reason this brings to mind the movie "Leathal Weapon". They could call it the "Riggs System".

 

[XLMiguel]

Some proctologically challenged individual puled the same stunt on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge (south end of the DC beltway a couple of years ago, tied up the Beltway for 8-10 hours. Those stuck in traffic were all for granting the moron his wish after a few hours.

They may have a point. There are 683,280 hours in a 78 year life. If you tie up 100,000+ people for for a significant portion of the day, you've literally wasted a lifetime or two. Throw in a medical emergency or three (people stressing out in frustration and having heart attacks), the millions of $$ in lost productivity and revenues, etc., taking 'em out quickly starts making some sense. It's like a weird kind of terorism.

 

[k8ysv]

I was really halfway serious. I don't understand people who do this. If your life sucks so bad you wanna end it, who am I to stop you? Unless you're a loved one, I really have no say in it.

As far as I'm concerned the person holding up traffic is the one being insensitive. There are less public ways of offing yourself that don't entail endangering others. What if there were an ambulance with a trauma patient stuck waiting for this dufus to plummet? You wanna die? Fine. Don't take innocent people with you.

The only real use I could see for a "Spider web gun" type thing would be to glue the asshat to the bridge until rush hour was over, then come back later and cut him out.

 

[41mag]

Hows about handing the jumper a fingerprint pad & paper to help w/the id?Then just walk away.Mebee should have a designated spot to jump from tout of sight of any gawkers.Don't want to stop traffic.
Depending on the time of day he'd be sucked out to sea (fishfood)!No muss.No fuss.& no mess.

 

[Joe Demko]

Why would jumpers care about inconveniencing others? I've dealt with two suicides who succeeded and a bunch more who made half fast attempts. IME, the majority of suicides are supremely selfish people. The minority, who aren't, are the people who commit suicide to escape the pain and indignity of terminal illness or the like.

 

[notbubba]

If I was stopped in traffic I'd want the guy to jump off the bridge.

If I was stopped in traffic for hours I'd want the cops to shoot the guy off the bridge.

 

[thefitzvh]

Let them pour a little chlorine in the gene pool


James

 

[El Tejon]

SF cops just want an excuse to dress up in red and blue tights.

"Officer Lance, that is just fabulous! Wearing it to Castro Street, tonight?"

 

[Kharn]

I dont know if this is true, or an urban legend, but I believe the deal with the Woodrow Wilson is the jumpers ALWAYS stay away from the Virginia side. The VA cops pull out the beanbag shotgun to give any jumpers a little love-tap of encouragement and then fish'em out of the water. The cops from the other side (DC or MD? I dont remember) play nice and try to talk him/her out of it, tying up traffic for hours if need-be. But the second Mr. Jumper steps over the line to VA, he gets the beanbag.

Kharn

 

[The Undertoad]

LMAO Kharn!

 

[captain obvious]

What exactly is wrong with a Remington 700 for this kind of scenario? Sucidal guy dies, everyone else carries on - everyone happy.

 

[41mag]

Thanks El Tejon!Now how do I get the mountain dew outa my keyboard?

 

[Valkman]

Why not just clear traffic back, tell them to go ahead and jump, clean up and continue on. All that would cost would be the price of a shovel, mop and bucket.

You don't even need that - just a boat standing by to get the body. Some enviromental groups have done the same thing by blocking the bridges and hanging their signs all over. Pretty stupid when you're trying to sway people to your side!

I notice they don't try to block the roads in NV - they'd get run over by commuters on cell phones, the road would be cleared and all would be good again.

 

[WonderNine]

I understand the logic behind this. They shoot the net, reel him in right away. It's over then. Or they miss and he jumps, it's over then. And maybe people who want to do this will realize they have to jump and can't be attention whores for several hours.

 

[flatrock]

What exactly is wrong with a Remington 700 for this kind of scenario? Sucidal guy dies, everyone else carries on - everyone happy.

Well, in a practical sense it leaves a bloody mess on the bridge that has to be cleaned up, and well as a body in the bay that has to be recovered. Then there's the investigation as to if it was really a justified shooting while the officer is placed on administrative leave. Add to that the worngful death civil suit that's bound to be filed by the family of the suicidal guy, who they call the "victum".

Our legal system has way too many things wrong with it for a Remmington 700 to be the best way to solve the problem.

If they can find a way to apprehend the guy quickly and safely, it's likely the best thing to do.

 

[firearms_instructor]

Here's what I want to know:

Where does the state get the authority to prevent suicide? I mean, whose life is it, anyway?

If a citizen decides that their life sucks SO BAD that they're ready to end it, and risk having to explain their actions to their Creator, or worse yet, possibly reincarnate as a cockroach, where does the state get the authority to intervene (assuming that aforementioned citizen's choice of suicide methods are not endangering anyone else)?

This is the crux of many of our rights-related problems. Do we have a Constitution, or don't we? Is my body mine, or am I a "financial asset" of the state? If it's my body, where does the state get the authority to tell me what I can and can't put into it? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Shalako]

Harpoon?

I'm thinking a harpoon, spear gun, grappling hook, lasso or even a bolo type device would offer greater likelyhood of success then the net-gun.

Or better yet, harpoon flechettes!

 

[Standing Wolf]

[SARCASM] Obviously, we need a law against assault suicide. [/SARCASM]

 

[ducktapehero]

Shoot him with one of those old old 4 gauge shotguns. Eventually the rain will wash away all remnants. Cost of 4 gauge shotgun? 15,000 dollars, cost of 1 round of 4 gauge buckshot? 23 dollars. Saving thousands of man hours and keeping traffic moving? PRICELESS.

 

[Beetle Bailey]

Dunno if it's been covered before, but FWIW a few years back I was stuck in traffic because some suicidal nut stopped on the Pomona Hwy 60 about half an hour away from downtown LA. As I was driving (errr. . .wasn't much driving to do since all traffic stopped) I heard on the radio that the guy had "a high powered rifle" and that "all traffic had to be cleared back over a mile from his location because the bullet was still lethal to that range." It took me one full hour to move one mile to the nearest offramp and another 45 minutes to move one block and make one left turn to get away from the mess. Since I was headed to work that afternoon, when I figured out I was probably gonna be late, I called in to let them know what was going on.

When I finally got to work, it seems the boss got the message relayed a bit wrong. She thought I was being personally held hostage by the guy at gunpoint . Another coworker who was originally from Vietnam heard the story I was telling the boss and replied " , in my country, they just shoot him if he tries something like that. Maybe early in the day they try to talk to him, but if rushhour is coming, no way! You're not gonna hold up all those people!" My boss agreed that they should have just shoot him. I was kinda curious as to what happened, but was too busy to watch the news for a few days. I later learned that the guy ended up shooting himself.

This is not an endorsement of Micheal Moore's film, as I have several issues with not only his views but also more importantly his ethics, or lack thereof. However, if you've seen the film, there is brief footage of a man placing a rifle in a wedge of the barrier separating opposing traffic in such a way as to allow himself to shoot himself. I'm told that's the guy.

Bringing this back on topic, I'm all for the police trying to find ways to end these situations relatively quickly, but a spiderweb gun isn't gonna stop all the potential methods of suicide. . .

 

[Hkmp5sd]

Is California ever going to catch up with the rest of the world?

Sticky foams, aka Stick'm foams have been around since the early 90s. They were were used in Gulf War I and Somalia. If they spray you, you aren't going anywhere soon.

 

[DTLoken]

Airbag on ground + beanbag or tazer + ride to mental health clinic = problem solved.