The drowning suicide that shook an island

The drowning suicide that shook an island

By Kristin J. Bender
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 06/05/2011

ALAMEDA -- Only two people went into the chilly San Francisco Bay waters Monday to help a suicidal Raymond Zack and neither wore a police or firefighter uniform.

When Zack, 52, despondent and depressed, walked fully clothed into the bay at Robert Crown Memorial State Beach to take his own life, at least 10 Alameda firefighters and police officers made the choice not to come to his aid. They stood on the beach and watched, for about an hour.

Their decision not to retrieve the man from the 55-degree bay waters when it was clear the U.S. Coast Guard was not going to be able to rescue him in time raises the question: When should first responders ignore protocol and provide lifesaving support?

"I believe that the value of life supersedes man-made laws. Why is there confusion about that?" said Jack Hoban, who cowrites the column "The Ethical Warrior" for PoliceOne.com and is also president of Resolution Group International, a New Jersey-based group that conducts leadership and ethics training.

Firefighters say they could not enter the water because budget cuts two years ago did not allow the department to recertify in land-based water rescues. A rescue attempt would have opened the city to liability. Police said they did not know if Zack, 6 feet 3 and 280 pounds, was violent, armed or had drugs in his system.
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The drowning suicide that shook an island