After personally experiencing a loved one’s suicide off the Milwaukee Hoan Bridge, I’ve learned that no barriers are installed to prevent suicide on the bridge, even after 30+ suicides from the bridge. There is even an EASY LADDER ACCESS POINT to the edge of the bridge, making it easy for anyone to impulsively jump. Many have attempted to request adding a barrier, but the Wisconsin DOT refuses to accept the evidence that these barriers are effective and worth it.

According to a WISN article from May 25, 2016, more than 30 people have jumped off Milwaukee’s Hoan Bridge since 2000. That number is higher now, although there is no official up-to-date count. In 2010, Milwaukee County Sherrif David Clarke asked the state to put up suicide prevention barriers during reconstruction of the bridge but was denied by the DOT, citing that there is a lack of confidence that barriers would actually be an effective solution. This is wrong, because suicide is an impulsive act that if prevented once, may never be repeated again. A study of 500 people who attempted to jump off California’s Golden Gate Bridge found that very few attempted suicide again. California, after 1500 suicides off that bridge, has now spent $76 million on installing crisis hotline phones and suicide prevention netting.

90% of the 500 who were stopped from jumping are still alive up to 30 years after the attempt or have died of natural causes, showing that SUICIDE BARRIERS DO WORK.

While some worry that the barriers may distort the view of the bridge itself, clear netting will not distort anything, and the life of a person is worth a million times more than the view of a bridge.

All over multiple social media platforms, the people of Milwaukee are used to these bridge suicides, as it’s a normal and frequent occurrence to see someone standing on the edge of the downtown Hoan Bridge when driving past, from their apartment, or their workplace. On a Reddit thread talking about a February 5 suicide on the Hoan Bridge, no one was surprised about the incident, someone even said “that’s the second one this week”.

We need the DOT to install these barriers and crisis hotline telephones. We’ve seen too many losses over this bridge and the DOT hasn’t acted on it for 22 years (2000). Knowing that this barrier would have prevented, or at least delay, the act of suicide by a close loved one hurts a lot, especially when there is no action taken. Please sign this petition to request that the DOT finally install prevention tools on the Hoan Bridge in Milwaukee, so we can prevent, or at least delay, an act of suicide and provide those who need it with resources to recover from mental health issues.