Who would want to be a police officer today?? Pretty soon they’ll be hiring ex cons to police the streets since no law abiding citizen in their right mind will want the job. To political!

When an officer is facing a person in crisis, the answer is not to shoot, but to de-escalate and to call in experts.

What experts? Go through the phone book and call every expert you can think of. The first thing you'll hear is "if you have an emergency, please hang up and call 911.". The second thing you'll hear is their office hours. The "experts" don't go into the field and certainly not after hours, on weekends, or on holidays.

I'm sure the "experts" would be glad to help if its not an emergency, you bring yourself to them, and its during business hours though.

The whole concept of waiting for the experts, especially during real crisis (i.e. armed, violent, dangerous, etc.), is a complete fantasy.

It isn’t if they are part of the department or a regional crisis team.

Take a quick walk around Oakland or San Francisco and report back on how well those crisis teams are doing with the homeless population in crisis. They're either incapable or lack the tools to manage the most mundane of mental health crisis and you want to bring them in to handle extreme crisis? I'm not interested in seeing the public safety disaster that would predictably result in.

So, it isn’t working well in a large community like Oakland or San Francisco, so let’s not even give it a chance in smaller communities?

I could understand calling in experts in a static situation, but if you have someone actively evading police and driving recklessly, I don't think there's time for that "lets stop and talk this out" situation.

So do I think this officer deserves to be charged with manslaughter for this (based on the article) - absolutely not. Should he be removed or relegated to a different police function, possibly due to his decision making vs the other officers in the situation. If he broke protocol by engaging vs letting the person get a way then he deserves a fitting punishment (assuming that's the case).

Kathleen,
Everything you perceive to be mental health-related, you weigh in on. Was Arboleda wearing a sign around his neck saying, "I have mental health issues!", NO! You are so quick to judge and obviously expect officers to put themselves at further risk because someone might have mental health issues. Yes, they might but they might also be high on drugs and out of their mind. Individuals under the influence can be extremely dangerous!

Carl is correct; soon no respectable individual will want to uphold the law or protect those they are sworn to protect because they might be prosecuted for defending themselves when they fear for their life. If you have never had the opportunity to go through a police simulator, I would suggest you do so. It is an eye-opening experience. The job is not easy!

I am trying to speak to those in mental crisis, but “The car itself was not aimed at Deputy Hall," Mockler said. It appears Arboleda should not have died.

Let's not come to a conclusion on this case with our prejudices, whatever they may be, before hearing all the evidence, as the jury will.

Let's not come to a conclusion on this case based on our prejudices, whatever they may be.
The jury will hopefully receive all the evidence.

It is easy for those that want to criticize police officer conduct to do so while sitting in front of their computer with a cup of coffee. They obviously have never had to make a split second decision under stressful circumstances. I have encouraged Kathleen to do a ride along with Pleasanton PD to get a better feel for what they face day in and day out but obviously she would rather not. Better yet, if you really want to expand your horizons take a ride along with Oakland PD.

FYI - The car does not have to be aimed at the officer! He has a duty to protect life, which includes other officers and civilians that he feels are endangered by the acts of others. The evidence will show what it shows.

I believe there are other ways to have handled this incident, but I am perfectly willing to wait for the evidence and the jury’s decision.