Arizona police officer told drowning man, 'I'm not jumping in after you,' as he begged for help

[onthedarkside]

 

A man drowned in an Arizona lake last month, and as he pleaded for help, struggling in the water, local police officers standing by refused to rescue him, according to officials and a body-camera-footage transcript. 

 

"I'm drowning," Sean Bickings, 34, told Tempe Police Department officers during the May 28 incident at Tempe Town Lake, according to a video transcript released by the city and reviewed by Insider.

 

One officer responded to Bickings, "OK, I'm not jumping in after you," moments after another officer instructed Bickings to head over to a pylon, the transcript shows. 

...

The three Tempe police officers who didn't step in to save the drowning man were put on paid leave as the Arizona Department of Public Safety and Scottsdale Police Department investigated the officers' actions, the city said in a statement on Friday.

 

(more)

 

https://www.insider.com/video-arizona-cops-didn't-rescue-drowning-man-transcript-2022-6

 

 

 

[Bluespunk]

Thank goodness for bodycams...should sort this all out.

[KhunLA]

I just watched that today on YT, and at no point did he ask for help.  Unless another vid out there I didn't see.  They told him not to go in the lake.

 

If I saw him drowning after telling him not to go in, I wouldn't try to save him either.  He wasn't a small person, and seemed a bit unstable.

[Bluespunk]

38 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

I just watched that today on YT, and at no point did he ask for help.  Unless another vid out there I didn't see.  They told him not to go in the lake.

 

If I saw him drowning after telling him not to go in, I wouldn't try to save him either.  He wasn't a small person, and seemed a bit unstable.

Reports on this story I read elsewhere earlier today say he called out several times he was drowning and the police ignored his partner and were less than cordial towards her when she began to panic as she could see he was drowning.

 

Maybe true, maybe not but that is what the report said.

[KhunLA]

38 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Reports on this story I read elsewhere earlier today say he called out several times he was drowning and the police ignored his partner and were less than cordial towards her when she began to panic as she could see he was drowning.

 

Maybe true, maybe not but that is what the report said.

Even if it is true, still have my doubts, they are not obligated to jump in after him.  Not sure playing lifeguard is in the job description or training. 

 

They told him not to go in the water.   Oh well ...  som nam na

 

The vid I saw of her talking to PoPo, she wasn't panicked at all, simply picking up his stuff.

[Excel]

2 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

Thank goodness for bodycams...should sort this all out.

Perhaps they were not waterproof hence one reason the officers did not want to jump in the water.

[Bluespunk]

6 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Even if it is true, still have my doubts, they are not obligated to jump in after him.  Not sure playing lifeguard is in the job description or training. 

 

They told him not to go in the water.   Oh well ...  som nam na

 

The vid I saw of her talking to PoPo, she wasn't panicked at all, simply picking up his stuff.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/06/arizona-man-drowns-officers-watch

[Bluespunk]

5 minutes ago, Excel said:

Perhaps they were not waterproof hence one reason the officers did not want to jump in the water.

Yeah right, that's why they didn't help a drowning man...

[BritManToo]

3 hours ago, onthedarkside said:

A man drowned in an Arizona lake last month, and as he pleaded for help, struggling in the water, local police officers standing by refused to rescue him, according to officials and a body-camera-footage transcript. 

Been on many lifesaving courses .... don't enter deep water is the No. 1 rule.

Reach, throw, wade, row .... but don't go.

 

[Bluespunk]

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

If not mistaken, he was not near the shore.  The officer would have had to de-gear, jump off a so so high walkway, into  unknown water, and if not trained, and not close to shore, and not knowing if able to grasp the pylon while avoiding the idiot drowning the officer with him.

 

If you don't want to drown, don't swim illegally in water.

 

 

May well be the case , but I really doubt it was out of concern for their cameras that they didn’t enter the water. 

[Hummin]

Protct and serve have a different meaning over there, as there is so many nut-heads they have to protect themselves from  
 

And of course lack of training and motivation. 

Edited June 7, 2022 by Hummin

[Hummin]

17 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

May well be the case , but I really doubt it was out of concern for their cameras that they didn’t enter the water. 

Jump in to a panicking person in water, you will need proper training, and we had some exercises when I did my rescue diving classes/license, and I would not recommend anyone to try if you are not sure of your own abilities and sure you will manage to take control of the situation. 
 

But try to find something life saving tools nearby could be a start while waiting for assistance 

Edited June 7, 2022 by Hummin

[Bluespunk]

9 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Jump in to a panicking person in water, you will need proper training, and we had some exercises when I did my rescue diving classes/license, and I would not recommend anyone to try if you are not sure of your own abilities and sure you will manage to take control of the situation. 
 

But try to find something life saving tools nearby could be a start while waiting for assistance 

As I said,  bodycams should sort it all out.

I’m sure any disciplinary action will take into account the footage, the police officer’s who watched him drown levels of life saving training and departmental procedures…

[Hummin]

16 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

As I said,  bodycams should sort it all out.

I’m sure any disciplinary action will take into account the footage, the police officer’s who watched him drown levels of life saving training and departmental procedures…

 I cant say from this footage the police did any wrong, and for sure the distance he swimmed out from shore I doubt any average police would made any difference, even experienced beach lifesavers without proper equipment with them. 

[Bluespunk]

9 minutes ago, Hummin said:

 I cant say from this footage the police did any wrong, and for sure the distance he swimmed out from shore I doubt any average police would made any difference, even experienced beach lifesavers without proper equipment with them. 

As I said…let’s see what those who decide upon any disciplinary action think of their actions…

[Credo]

Tempe is part of the greater Phoenix area and you can rest assured that pretty much all of the police departments strongly adhere to the idea that they have no mandate to protect anyone -- except each other.   

 

The man could have been stopped from jumping in the first place.   Swimming in the Tempe lake is a civil violations.  They did not stop him and they did nothing to assist him.   Oh, and they didn't release the entire video:

 

"Tempe did not release the full body camera video citing the sensitive nature"

 

They can join the brave police of Uvalde, TX, it would seem.

 

https://www.abc15.com/news/region-southeast-valley/tempe/tempe-officers-actions-scrutinized-after-man-drowns-in-lake

 

[Berkshire]

15 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Even if it is true, still have my doubts, they are not obligated to jump in after him.  Not sure playing lifeguard is in the job description or training. 

 

They told him not to go in the water.   Oh well ...  som nam na

 

The vid I saw of her talking to PoPo, she wasn't panicked at all, simply picking up his stuff.

I have to agree.  The guy was told not to go into the water but did so anyways.  The police weren't equipped to help a drowning man, not really their job.  And it seemed they really didn't think he was drowning until too late.

 

I hope the media doesn't paint this as "evil police refuse to help drowning man" because it wasn't quite like that.