Video After The Jump
PHOENIX (AP) — A Phoenix suburb is reviewing how it handles water rescues as video of 3 police officers standing nearby as a homeless man drowns sparks outcry.
The Tempe Police Department says the officers are on paid administrative leave after last month’s drowning in a city lake.
An uproar arose after Tempe police on Friday released edited footage from officers’ body cameras as well as a transcript of the May 28 incident.
The video shows Sean Bickings, 34, climb over a 4-foot fence along Tempe Town Lake. An officer tells him swimming is not permitted. Bickings then goes into the water & starts swimming. Another officer tells police to watch him while he goes to get a boat.
The video ends there. But the transcript shows two officers repeatedly tell Bickings to swim to a pylon & “hold on.” Bickings continuously says “I can’t” & pleads for help.
At one point, one of the officers says: “I’m not jumping in after you.”
The Tempe Officers Association said the public needs to understand officers are not trained for water rescues. These officers followed their training & went to get a boat.
City said officials will reevaluate the protocols around water rescues. They will also look at where rescue equipment like life preservers should be placed relative to the lake or any body of water.
Firefighters recovered Bickings’ body & pronounced him dead.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety & police in the neighboring suburb of Scottsdale are investigating the police response.
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