Tempe police release additional bodycam footage depicting officers' response to drowning

The Tempe Police Department released three additional body camera videos capturing how officers responded to reports of a domestic disturbance by Tempe Town Lake that ended with a man drowning as officers refused to help.

Edited body camera footage previously released by Tempe shows Sean Bickings, 34, drowning while officers watched on May 28. The drowning has since spurred an investigation on water response protocols and reactions from residents, activists and police unions. 

City of Tempe officials said in a statement they had released the new footage "in a continuing effort to be transparent and in response to public records requests." No more information will be released and no more questions will be answered until investigations and reviews are concluded, according to the statement.

The recently released videos, which comprise over five hours of footage, show new information on how police responded. There are three videos that were released, but they are edited, not raw footage. Part of the videos are muted.

Two transcripts were also released, most of which depict portions of video which are missing. The transcripts identify the three responding by the last names of Berman, Bennett, and Gebbie, but it is unclear who they are in the videos. 

Profile of Bickings:Community, friends mourn man who drowned in Tempe as police watched

What the released videos, transcripts show

One of the videos shows an officer approaching a man, later identified as Bickings, standing by a railing near the lake at around 5 a.m. on May 28.

The officer asks Bickings to identify himself when Bickings starts reading what sounds like a legal explainer of his human rights when the officer interrupts him and says failing to identify himself during a criminal investigation is a misdemeanor and could land him in jail.

"I'm letting you know, if you refuse to identify yourself — alright — there is a great possibility that you will be arrested," the officer says in the video. 

Bickings eventually identifies himself as "Wendell Bickings" and gives his date of birth and social security number which were muted in the video. Bickings then continues reading about his civil rights.

The video shows several minutes go by when Bickings gets up from the bench shortly before 5:12 a.m. and leans on the railing before climbing over it while saying "Sorry guys."

"What?" a surprised officer asks. "Sorry," Bickings repeats.

"Where are you going?" the officer asks, but Bickings seems to stammer something unintelligible.

The officer tells Bickings he can't swim in the lake shortly before body camera footage shows Bickings swimming south. 

The officer asks others to watch Bickings before walking over to his patrol vehicle when the audio cuts out. The video shows the officer driving over to the other side of the lake to where a police boat is.

About ten minutes later, the officer is seen on a boat with another officer going out into the water and after a stop, a third officer joins them. They are seen maneuvering the boat around the lake until they reach the bridge where Bickings first entered the water.

It appears to take about 25 minutes for the officers to get from their car, onto the boat to the bridge. Officers on the boat and bridge seem to be communicating with one another, but there is no audio in the footage provided. Bickings however is not visible. They remain in the area, head over to a ramp, then circle back to the bridge in the span of 40 minutes, where officers once more communicate with others on the bridge.

Bickings is not visible in that frame either.

Tempe police did not release footage of police interaction with Bickings as he struggled to stay above water and ultimately drowned due to the "sensitive nature" of the footage.

The department instead released two written transcripts — one 10 pages and another 14 pages — chronicling the conversation police say occurred between officers, Bickings and a woman claiming to be Bickings' wife, Susan Smith.

'Not jumping in after you':Tempe Town Lake drowning spurs protocol investigation

One transcript provided says an Officer Bennett spoke with Bickings while he was in the lake. 

"You know we're going to come in there and get you," Bennett tells Bickings, according to the transcript, to which he replies "I know."

Bennett then asks Bickings what his plan is and Bickings says he's drowning.

"Ah. I'm going to drown. I'm going to drown," Bickings said, according to the transcript. 

Bennet responds "No you're not."

Bennett tells Bickings to grab onto a nearby pylon but Bickings says he can't and continues to plead for aid, saying "help" one last time in a transcript before never appearing again.

A transcript for the video of the officer who first contacted Bickings and left to retrieve a police boat was not provided by the city of Tempe.

One video shows police initially responding to the domestic disturbance, with Smith telling them she was having an argument with her husband but that he didn't do anything wrong.

Another body camera video for an Officer Bennett shows Bennett taking Smith to a patrol vehicle where she's handcuffed and placed inside the vehicle after allegedly attempting to jump into the lake to save Bickings. 

Bennett repeatedly tells Smith to calm down and later explains that she can't help Bickings until she does, the video shows. Bennett later explains to Smith that she's not under arrest but is being detained until she has calmed down. 

Bennett walks back to the bridge when the audio cuts out around the 18-minute mark and doesn't come back for a little over an hour. The muted footage shows Bennett walking around the bridge, going back to the patrol car to talk to Smith and having other conversations with officers. 

The audio returns after roughly 63 minutes where Bennett tells Smith that she won't be able to see Bickings as he hasn't resurfaced causing Smith to break down into tears. 

In the video, Smith can be heard saying she would rather die trying to save Bickings than live life without him, prompting Bennett and another officer to ask if she wishes to harm or kill herself, which Smith denies. 

“To die side-by-side with your partner is honorable,” Smith tells Bennett, the video shows.

Bennett eventually steps aside with another officer who asks if they can say she's not being coherent. 

"She's coherent," Bennett replies. "She's coherent — she's just high."

The video shows Bennett later tells Smith she wants to take her somewhere for mental health treatment which Smith vehemently refuses. Bennett can be seen explaining Smith's decision to other officers and that Bennett doesn't believe she intends to harm herself after being released. A police supervisor says to take pictures of Smith and her belongings before releasing her. 

Reaction to the release

The three responding officers have been placed on non-disciplinary administrative paid leave. 

The Tempe Officers Association, the police union for the department, said in a statement Bickings' death remains tragic and reiterated the officers followed their training and city police. 

"As the newly released video shows, one of the officers on scene immediately went to get the police boat and began to search for Mr. Bickings," the statement said. "Our officers did what they were supposed to do under the circumstances, which were unpredictable and extremely difficult."

Tempe police is conducting a death investigation that could take "many weeks" as they wait for medical examiner and toxicology results. The Arizona Department of Public Safety will review results of this death investigation, according to the statement.

The City of Tempe is also examining police water response protocols, equipment needs for officers and placement of rescue equipment near bodies of water.

Besides these investigations, Scottsdale police will begin an administrative review of the critical incident response, and the investigation is expected to take several weeks. 

Reporter Angela Cordoba Perez contributed to this report.

Reach the reporter Perry Vandell at 602-444-2474 or perry.vandell@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @PerryVandell.

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