i am currently listening to a possible bridge jumper from the dannehower bridge which covers 56pd, 54pd and 52pd....i was just wondering, since 56pd's transmissions are encrypted, is it possible that the event will unfold on the PS coord channel? what is that channel used for, cause i dont have it in my scanner as of now...something like that, a suicidal jumper, what channels bssides the jurisdictional dept. channel, what others would be utilized?...is it possible it could go to event channel?
incident question
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The Dannehower Bridge actually crosses from Norristown into West Norriton and then into Upper Merion. Going south, the bypass then crosses through a bit of Bridgeport before passing back into Upper Merion where 202 north and south merge together at the traffic light at DeKalb and the bypass.
Barbados Island is considered part of West Norriton Twp. and the municipal boundary runs essentially up the middle of each river channel around the island.
In the past, Norristown and Upper Merion handled everything on the bridge, but a year or so ago, West Norriton PD was dragged back in since they technically have jurisdiction over part of the bridge.
Neither Norristown nor West Norriton can monitor UMPD dispatch since it is encrypted. I don't think Bridgeport has any newer encryption capable radios, either. UMPD dispatch will sometimes come up on Police Region 4 to contact a Bridgeport car, but relays to/from Norristown regarding stuff passing over the bridge are done by phone between county and UMPD. In theory, everyone could converse on PD Region 4 or PS-COORD.
While West Norriton was not the initially responding department, they'll be handling the investigation since the jumper landed on the island and, therefore, jumped from their section of the bridge.
This was a very tragic and unfortunate event.
When there are jumpers from the bridge, the fire companies operate the water rescue crews. Jefferson and Swedesburg typically use UHF on the river while Norristown uses 800. If need be, a Norristown boat can be given a UHF portable or info can be relayed via command. Personally, I think it is a lot cheaper to replace a UHF HT-1250 than it is an 800 XTS-2500 if the radio gets dropped in the water. But, Norristown only has 800 equipment while Swedesburg and Jefferson had UHF equipment before the county system came along and opted to keep it all in operation.
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ok, so either ps-coord or on region 4...both which im familiar with, yea that bridge always was interesting to me for the reason you explained, if you enter the bridge from the norristown side and head towards UM twp., about 150 yds onto the bridge you see the sign saying "west norriton twp"...white and blue...never made sense to me. So if something happened on that short stretch of bridge,a 62 car would have to come down to investigate, as was the case on saturday afternoon. possibilities are starting to surface that the suicide was linked to bridgeports saturday afternoon homicide....
http://www.timesherald.com/articles/2008/12/28/news/doc495710606affd673501467.txt
EDIT: Try this link if you are having trouble with the previous link:
http://tinyurl.com/8yjktj
Also, that West Norriton sign you mentioned does not seem properly placed to me. I wonder about it every time I go by. The PD jurisdiction does not start until further up the bridge. Also, as I mentioned earlier, the municipal boundary is in the middle of the channel on the north side of the island.
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