Bodycam footage shows Arizona police standing by as a man drowning begs for their help

Bodycam footage from an Arizona police officer shows the moment when a man drowning in a lake asks for their help, and the officers allegedly ignored his pleas.

Officers responded to a call reporting a disturbance between a couple at Elmore Pedestrian Bridge in Tempe just after 5 a.m. on May 28.

When they arrived at the scene, they found Sean Bickings, 34, and his wife. The couple denied that there had been any physical altercation between them. The officers proceeded to run their names through the database to check for any outstanding arrest warrants.

At this point, Bickings told the police that he was going for a swim, according to the bodycam footage.

“I’m gonna go for a swim. I’m free to go right?” Bickings said before climbing a four-foot metal fence.

“You’re not allowed to swim in the lake,” one of the officers tells him, but Bickings jumped into the water regardless.

The police officers made no effort to retrieve the man from the water. Instead, they just discussed how far they thought he would be able to swim.

The 34-year-old man then begs the officers to help him because he is “going to drown.”

“So what’s your plan right now?” one of the officers asks Bickings.

“I’m going to drown,” he replies, according to the transcript.

“No, you’re not,” said the same officer.

One of officers also replies, “Okay, I’m not jumping in after you.”

“Please help me. Please, please, please,” begs Bickings. “I can’t touch. Oh God, please help me. Help me.”

“He’s drowning right in front of you and you won’t help,” his wife stepped in. One of the police officers threatened to put her in the police car if she did not calm down.

One officer attempted to get a boat to rescue the man. But it was too late. Bickings disappeared under the surface of the water and drowned.

It is unclear how much time the man was left struggling in the water. His body was recovered six hours later.

The three police officers who arrived at the scene were placed on paid administrative leave as an investigation into the incident is conducted.

According to a police union, the officers did not have the resources to rescue the man and therefore could not go in after him.

“Attempting such a high-risk rescue could easily result in the death of the person in the water and the officer, who could be pulled down by a struggling adult,” representatives of the Tempe Officers Association said.

“Officers are trained to call the Fire Department ... or get the Tempe Police boat. That is what officers did here.”

The bodycam footage was released by city officials on June 3. Because the content was deemed “sensitive,” the moment when Mr. Bricking drowned was withheld, and only a written transcript of the body cam was released.