I don't blame anybody for not jumping into deep water to rescue somebody that is likely to drown you along with him. Once he was off dry land, waiting for him to drown was probably the safest option for everybody*. Like you though, I don't get why they waited 2+ minutes to pull him out. He likely passed out well before that.
*Except perhaps for the guy drowning.
I don't know, half a dozen strong cops should very easily be able to pull a guy out of the water. Single cops, firefighters, and even medics have successfully and without hesitation dove after people trying to commit suicide in truly dangerous bodies of water, rivers like the Hudson, half frozen lakes or relatively high jumps. And yeah, 2+ minutes was definitely too long to wait. Even if he hadn't completely passed out after a minute he wouldn't have enough oxygen left to put up much of a fight if that is what they were truly worried about.
After actually reading the article, I have to wonder why they let him in the water in the first place. Above anything else that seems to be their biggest fuckup and probably the only one I'd really fault them for.
