{"id":517865,"date":"2018-02-06T19:59:29","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T02:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=517865"},"modified":"2018-02-06T19:59:29","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T02:59:29","slug":"committee-blocks-rio-grande-gorge-bridge-anti-suicide-proposal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/02\/committee-blocks-rio-grande-gorge-bridge-anti-suicide-proposal\/","title":{"rendered":"Committee blocks Rio Grande Gorge Bridge anti-suicide proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_509176\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-509176\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/4957651_web_3104871_56a644c4352ab.image_-771x579.jpg\" alt=\"Rio Grande Gorge Bridge\" width=\"771\" height=\"579\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/4957651_web_3104871_56a644c4352ab.image_-771x579.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/4957651_web_3104871_56a644c4352ab.image_-336x252.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/4957651_web_3104871_56a644c4352ab.image_-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/4957651_web_3104871_56a644c4352ab.image_-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/4957651_web_3104871_56a644c4352ab.image_.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Taos News file photo<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The New Mexico Department of Transportation installed 10 call boxes on the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge that connect to the New Mexico Crisis and Access Line. Some think that isn&#8217;t enough.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The idea of assigning state police officers to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge to prevent suicidal people from jumping met a quick defeat\u00a0<span class=\"aBn\" data-term=\"goog_400310900\"><span class=\"aQJ\">Tuesday<\/span><\/span>\u00a0at the state Capitol.<\/p>\n<p>Members of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee unanimously blocked a bill to allocate $156,000 a year to help pay for the suicide prevention squad.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t see how it&#8217;s going to work,&#8221; said Rep. Liz Thomson, D-Albuquerque, who led opposition to the proposal, <a href=\"https:\/\/nmlegis.gov\/Legislation\/Legislation?Chamber=H&amp;LegType=B&amp;LegNo=166&amp;year=18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">House Bill 166<\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article comes from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.santafenewmexican.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Santa Fe New Mexican<\/a>. NMPolitics.net is paying for the rights to publish articles about the 2018 legislative session from the newspaper. Help us cover the cost by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/donate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">making a donation to NMPolitics.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The measure called for three state police officers to be assigned to the bridge, presumably in different shifts.<\/p>\n<p>But Thomson pointed out that the cost of salaries, benefits and equipment for three officers would run $288,000 a year, or nearly double the amount sought in the bill.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond that, Thomson said, she questioned whether stationing officers on the Gorge Bridge in Taos County would be effective.<\/p>\n<p>Someone intent on jumping to his death could easily find a section of the bridge without a police presence, she said.<\/p>\n<p>The bridge has become notorious for suicides in the last quarter-century. This led to the installation of special phones on the bridge that connect can someone contemplating suicide with a hotline staffed by mental health professionals.<\/p>\n<p>But the bill&#8217;s cosponsor, Democratic Rep. Bobby Gonzales of Ranchos de Taos, said more must be done.<\/p>\n<p>He told the committee he believed a police presence on the bridge would serve as a deterrent to people considering suicide.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Gonzales said design alterations to the bridge, such as building a railing higher than the existing one of 47 inches, are not practical. The bridge cannot safely accommodate more weight that a structural change would cause, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Another obstacle for Gonzales&#8217; bill was that the House of Representatives has already moved its budget bill to the Senate. Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, who chairs the House finance committee, suggested that Gonzales could ask the Senate to amend the bill with funding for a police presence on the bridge.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview after the hearing, Gonzales said it need not be police officers who staff the bridge. Rather, he said, the state could turn to a lower-paid security detail.<\/p>\n<p>Still, he was not optimistic that any change could be accomplished during this legislative session, which is down to its last nine days.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is probably a very small chance that it can be done this year,&#8221; Gonzales said.<\/p>\n<p>Taos, he added, bears the brunt of the pain whenever someone takes his life on the bridge. The bill presented to fellow lawmakers at least was a starting point for a deeper exploration of what can been done to prevent deaths on the bridge, Gonzales said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Contact Milan Simonich at\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:msimonich@sfnewmexican.com\">msimonich@sfnewmexican.com<\/a>\u00a0or (505) 986-3080. Follow his Ringside Seat column in\u00a0<span class=\"aBn\" data-term=\"goog_400310901\"><span class=\"aQJ\">Monday&#8217;s<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<span class=\"aBn\" data-term=\"goog_400310902\"><span class=\"aQJ\">Friday&#8217;s<\/span><\/span>\u00a0print editions.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The idea of assigning state police officers to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge to prevent suicidal people from jumping met a quick defeat\u00a0Tuesday\u00a0at the state Capitol.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":509176,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[3634,203,107],"class_list":["post-517865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-2018-legislative-session","tag-law-enforcement","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}