Portland’s Vista Bridge was closed Wednesday as crisis negotiators worked to keep a man from jumping.
It was the second time this month that someone has climbed around the new protective fencing on the bridge and threatened to jump. Police talked a man down earlier this month.
Commissioner Steve Novick is head of the transportation bureau. He says Wednesday’s extended negotiation is further proof that the barriers are working: would-be jumpers are forced to climb around them — and to hesitate.
Novick said, “Time is our friend in dealing with suicide. When people have time to think, often they decide not to do it. So the thing that barrier gives us is time.”
