We recommend this article: A Tale of Two Police Responses. Agustin Gonsalez, a mentally ill man with a history of depression, was shot to death by police in Hayward, California, as he held a razor blade. In a similar incident just months prior, police in Oakland, California, talked him down and disarmed him as he cut himself with a razor. Hayward police, on the other hand, opened fire on Mr. Gonsalez only seven seconds after arriving to the scene. This is a tragic example of the needless deaths that police cause when officers are not trained in de-escalation strategies but instead turn immediately to lethal force.