'I'm Not Jumping In After You': Man Drowns In Front Of Tempe Police

TEMPE, AZ — Disturbing body camera footage appears to show Tempe police officers refuse to help a drowning man who begged them for help, with one officer telling the man, "I’m not jumping in after you."

The footage, obtained by multiple media outlets, including KSAZ, shows the officers approach a woman Saturday, May 28, near the Elmore Pedestrian Bridge. She said she and her husband got into a dispute. She told police there was no physical confrontation, and that her husband, Sean Bickings, 34, "didn't do nothing wrong."

After a brief conversation the officers walk over to Bickings, who's seated in a chair near a pedestrian bridge. After a brief interaction, the man, who told the officers he and his wife have been living near the bridge, hops over a railing and jumps into the water.

When an officer asks him what he's doing, Bickings replied, "I'm going to go for a swim. I'm free to go, right?"

After multiple officers tell Bickings he can't swim in the lake, he swims out to the middle of the lake. The city later estimated Bickings swam about 30-40 yards out into the water.

"How far do you think he's going to be able to swim?" one officer asks. None of the officers dive in after him.

The video stops when officers hear Bickings shout, but a transcript provided by AZ Family recounts what happens next.

Officer 2: “So what’s your plan right now?”

Bickings: "I’m going to drown. I’m going to drown."

Officer 2: "No, you're not."

Bicking: (Inaudible)

Officer 1: "Go at least go to the pylon and hold on."

Bickings: "I'm drowning. (inaudible)

Officer 2: "Come back over to the pylon."

Bickings: "I can't. I can't." (inaudble)

Officer 1: "Okay, I'm not jumping in after you."

Bickings: (Inaudible) "Please help me. Please, please please."

Officer 2: "I don't think they can get (inaudible) the pedestrian bridge."

Bickings: "I can't touch. Oh God. Please help me. Help me."

Officer 2: "Sir, you need to listen to me. Hey, listen to me. Swim to the pylon."

Bickings: "I can't, I can't."

When Bickings' wife comes over, she appears to become agitated and asks why police are telling her to leave the bridge and "chill out."

She tells officers, "He's drowning. He's drowning. (inaudible) if you don't come over here now."

Later in the transcript, a police officer said another officer was getting a boat to help Bickings. At one point, she appears to try to jump the railing, and tells police she's "distraught because he's drowning in front of you and you won't help." Shortly thereafter, an officer notes that the man went underneath the water and hasn't come up for about 30 seconds.

Dive teams pulled Bickings from the water around 11:30 a.m. and declared him dead.

Andrew Ching and Jeff Glover, the city manager and police chief, respectively, believe Bickings’ death is a tragedy, the city said in a news release Friday. Glover met with Bickings’ mother last week.

The city asked the Department of Public Safety and Scottsdale police to investigate the Tempe officers' handling of the drowning.

The three Tempe police officers who responded to the call and saw the drowning were placed on non-disciplinary paid administrative leave pending the investigations, the city said.