It's a horrible story all around. A mom called the police. Her son was trying to commit suicide. He was going to drown himself. But when help responded -- firefighters and police both -- they just stood on the beach and watched 53-year-old Raymond Zack die. What a bunch of jerks, right?
It pains me to say this, but not really. They did the right thing. They protected their city from the lunacy of a litigious society. See, in Alameda, California, police and firefighters are not trained for land-to-water rescue situations because of budget constraints (they're looking into that now).
If they'd entered the water and, God forbid, failed at the mission, they would have left the city up wide open to a lawsuit with merit. These are the kinds of things that bankrupt entire cities, affecting anywhere from hundreds to thousands of residents. We're talking city employees -- like the firemen and police -- but also the residents, whose lives are thrown into turmoil when their taxes suddenly skyrocket to help a city cover its bills, when they suddenly have to find resources to manage garbage collection and the like. In short: total social upheaval ... and all because a few guys disregarded orders to play hero.
Who's the jerk now?
Studies have proven that even when cops do indeed do something wrong, and the city is successfully sued, it isn't the cop who pays but the taxpayers -- often as much as three times over to cover the damages. The monies generally come not from the police fund but the general fund, which means a reduction in the kinds of services that the average citizen depends on -- again, Tom, Dick, and Harry are getting hit, not the cop who did or didn't do a good job.
These kinds of figures leave cities, leave emergency workers, hog-tied. They're damned by the threat of lawsuits in court if they do. They're damned by the court of public opinion if they don't.
So I'll leave it to you. Should they have gone in to rescue this suicidal man against orders? Or should they have done their jobs?
Image via west.m/Flickr
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Comments 86
I'm not a police woman or a fire fighter. But I do not understand how a human being could watch another human being die and do nothing. Job title is irrelevant.
Idk, the man purposely killed himself. I live in norcal, the water will take you, especially if you are untrained and trying to 'rescue' someone who doesn't want to be. It's a risk, ppl die all of the time on accident in nor cal, you are advised not to go in after because our cerrent is so strong, water so cold that you will die too if untrained. There are many stories of people going in after their children and never coming back. I probably couldn't risk it for a man who wanted to die, I'd call the proper ppl to handle it, and it isnt the cops or fire fighters. We have plenty of Coast Guard Stations here, they are TRAINED to do thiat.
It was a suicidal man... a ,grown, well into his 50's man. He'd been on this earth long enough to know that walking into the bay to kill himself would probably work. He'd probably also been thinking about it for quite some time. If it was the police's job to prevent all suicides they'd have to have permanent stations all along the golden gate bridge staffed with good runners and bungee jumping equipment. I mean, a teenage girl just killed herself by jumping off last week, that's certainly more tragic than this.
They said that if it had been a child they would have gone against the rules and gone in after him/her... but this man chose his fate. No reason to risk their lives in order to save someone who didn't want to be saved.
I agree with Jonellg