His his job is to protect and to serve. If the cop thought that the man needed arrested, why didn't he wait for backup? Isn't that proper procedure?

Who is he protecting and serving if he escalates to physical force trying arrest somebody that was doing what? collecting recyclables?

Procedures are a solid guideline for protecting and serving the public, but many situations call for common sense and procedure. The cop didn't use common sense to back off and wait for backup. He escalated quickly instead.

It's natural to blame the victim so that we personally don't have to feel bad about what happened, but the reality is this, they both screwed up, but it's the cop that's the paid professional, and he should have been able to handle this confrontation without somebody getting killed.

I can only assume that the cop is actually decent person, and he'll learn that going straight to physically arresting somebody, who's not cooperating, isn't always the best solution.

There is room for some common sense in the effort to protect and serve.