The suicide of a 52-year-old man who was left to drown on an Alameda beach by firefighters and policemen watching from the shore seems to be tapping into some fundamental perceptions around the obligations of public safety officials in a crisis.
Many people have left comments responding to the interview with Interim Alameda Fire Chief D'Orazi that we posted yesterday. D'Orazi, in the interview, stated the reasons that department personnel on the scene didn't respond.
A majority of the comments expressed outrage or disappointment with the public safety employees who didn't act, though many people offered a defense of their decision not to intervene as well. Ian Hill, our Online Community Engagement Specialist, has collected some of these comments, which you can read below.
http://storify.com/kqednews/man-drowns-as-alameda-city-firefighters-police-sta