SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane task force that was trying to reduce suicide calls on the Monroe Street Bridge is no more after quietly disbanding last spring.
According to the Spokane Police Department, the Monroe Street Bridge is the location of about 20 suicide calls each year.
Spokane's Suicide Prevention Task force set out to stop that number from growing.
Major studies have shown installing barriers on bridges reduces the number of suicide attempts.
The task force looked into adding telephones directly connecting to a suicide hotline, netting, or artistic barriers to the Monroe Street Bridge. These ideas never came to fruition.
The task force was closed out before the city council even received a final report with its recommendations.
Now, these efforts are in the hands of the Prevent Suicide Spokane Coalition. It's partnered with the Spokane Regional Health District.
Coalition Chair Sabrina Votava said the bridge is a small part of a bigger picture.
"If somebody does fall through the cracks of that prevention effort and they do get to the point where they're in immediate risk, we have to keep them here in order to do that prevention work," Votava said.
She said the coalition wants to approach suicide prevention a bit differently than the task force did.
"I just would hope that the community knows that the intention of this group is not to take away from this any of those things," Votava said. "But it's to enhance the enjoyment of the bridge for everyone because there are a lot of people who have been negatively impacted."
The following video is a report on a Spokane Ironman athlete competing for suicide prevention.