Police To Enforce Ban On Bridge, Pier Jumping

      Officials from Falmouth’s police and harbor master departments are going to crack down on swimmers jumping off docks and bridges in town.
     Town officials met last Saturday at the Royal Megansett Nursing Home in North Falmouth to address what Selectman Kevin E. Murphy described as an escalation in problems at the dock that peaked in late June, when a North Falmouth teenager pushed an elderly man off the dock because, the teen told police, he “thought it would be funny.”
     The victim had been fishing with his grandson on the dock, and suffered only minor injuries from the fall.
     Mr. Murphy said that he had heard from residents of the neighborhood who were concerned about the number of youths who jump off the dock into the water as well as with the June incident.
     “It got to a boiling point and they asked if there was something I could do,” Mr. Murphy said, so he arranged a meeting with “all the stakeholders.”
      Attending the meeting were Harbor Master Gregg P. Fraser, Beach Superintendent Donald L. Hoffer, Police Chief Anthony J. Riello, as well as representatives of the North Falmouth Village Association and the Megansett Yacht Club. 
     It also drew more than 100 people, Mr. Murphy said, ranging in age from teenagers to seniors, and while some were opposed to restricting swimming from the dock, most were in agreement that something needed to be done to prevent further injuries.
     The meeting resulted in police and harbor master representatives agreeing to increase patrols and heighten enforcement of people jumping off the dock.
     Mr. Murphy said that Chief Riello “took a proactive stance” and is going to set up a police officer to serve as a liaison to the neighborhood.
     Town bylaws prohibit people from jumping from any town dock or bridge, said Assistant Harbor Master Robert W. Griffin Jr., and both police and harbor master staff have the authority to cite people who violate the bylaw, the fine for which starts at $50 and doubles if they are cited again.
     There are floating docks at Megansett, Mr. Griffin said, that some youths use to dive under boats as they go by, and they have had reports of youths waiting under the dock, then swimming out in front of boats, a dangerous activity that also impedes boat traffic.
     He said that apart from the incident with the teenager and the elderly man, no one has been injured at the Megansett dock this summer, but a few years ago, a boy jumped from the Great Pond bridge onto a boat that was passing underneath, resulting in a severe spinal injury.
     The Great Pond bridge is the biggest problem area, he said, and harbor master staff clear people who are jumping from the bridge several times each week, according to entries in the department’s logs.