Three police officers have been placed on ‘non-disciplinary paid administrative leave' after witnessing a drowning and failing to intervene, according to a news release from Tempe, Arizona, officials.
The incident occurred on May 28, when officers arrived at the scene after a reported disturbance between a couple, who were allegedly homeless. After officers spoke to the couple, they then proceeded to check their records. While the police were checking those records, a man identified as Sean Bickings jumped into the Tempe Town Lake.
While recordings indicate the officers told him not to jump in, what is startling is that they failed to help him when he began to struggle and beg for help. Body camera footage released Friday depicts the man jumping into the water and how the officers reacted. However, the 11-minute video cuts off before Bickings begs the officers for help. Authorities claimed that the incident was too sensitive to share. Instead, since the video ends before the drowning, a transcript released by Tempe police details the entire incident.
Before Bickings says he is drowning, an officer can be heard saying, “How far do you think he is going to be able to swim?”
The transcript then details the events that followed.
“I'm drowning,” Bickings said.
According to the transcript, an officer then replied: “Come back over to the pylon.”
After Bickings said, “I can't, I can't,” another officer replied: “OK, I'm not jumping in after you.”
Bickings then begged, moments before he died: “Please help me. Please, please, please. I can't touch. Oh God, Please help me. Help me.”
His wife, who was still on the scene, also begged officers to intervene: “I'm just distraught because he's drowning right in front of you and you won't help.”
According to the transcript, one of the officers then threatened to put her in his police car unless she calmed down.
“He’s everything I got,” she said. “I can’t lose him, he’s going to die.”
An officer was also recorded telling her that someone is getting a boat to rescue Bickings, but by then it was too late— Bickings had disappeared below the surface of the water.
Andy Anderson, a former assistant chief with Phoenix Police, told 12News, “This is not a lake patrol team that has the equipment to do a water rescue, these are street cops.”
It is unclear at this time how much time passed between him entering the water and then drowning.
According to The Washington Post, officials said Bickings swam no more than 40 yards before he became distressed and “soon went under and did not resurface.” The Arizona Republic reported a that team with Tempe Fire Medical Rescue pulled Bickings’ body out of the water around 11:30 AM.
Investigations into the incident are ongoing. According to News12, the three unnamed police officers have been placed on paid administrative leave pending investigations into the incident and police response by both the state Department of Public Safety and the Scottsdale Police Department.
Tempe City Manager Andrew Ching and Police Chief Jeff Glover called the death “a tragedy” and Glover met with the man’s mother, the news release said.