I know if I saw someone in distress in the water, I would try to save them (or at least, I hope that I would).
But that is me as a private citizen, and that risk of being drowned by the victim is a very real one.
Nobody is (or should be) compelled to give their lives. Granted, if you are a lifeguard that is your job, and you have training. We expect that of them.
But who knows about those police officers? Look at the image, fully clothed, with all their equipment...without real training, jumping into 20 feet of water...that is no small thing. People will say “Oh, they could have stripped off their gear and dove in”.
Sure. You could have two victims instead of one.
The drowned man is black. Are they trying to make a racial incident out of it?
Let’s try to recall the selfless Border Patrol Agent who died recently trying to rescue a drowning violator. But, hey, he got a very nice reward: A lovely funeral.