Associated Press Published

Bridge Day Panel OKs Finger Scans, Jumpers Protest

Fingerprintforcriminologystubs2.png

  The Bridge Day Commission has decided to require BASE jumpers, reppellers and vendors to undergo finger scans.

Commission members voted unanimously on Wednesday to require the scans. Commission members say the scans are less intrusive than the one-day festival’s current background checks.

Several jumpers criticized the requirement during the meeting’s public comment segment. Marcus Ellison of Fayetteville said jumpers feel insulted by the requirement.

Alan Lewis of Tennessee is organizing an alternative event in Twin Falls, Idaho, where jumping off the Perrine Bridge is allowed year-round. He says Twin Falls welcomes jumpers, while there’s an adversarial relationship between Bridge Day jumpers and West Virginia State police.

BASE stands for building, antenna, span and Earth, the fixed objects from which jumpers leap with a parachute.