- A man who drowned in an Arizona lake had a history of helping the homeless, his friends said.
- Sean Bickings drowned as police officers watched him swim away and didn't intervene.
- Friends of Bickings, who was also homeless, have called for more safety measures at the lake.
Sean Bickings, the 34-year-old man who drowned in Arizona's Tempe Town Lake as police officers stood by, was well known in the homeless community and had a legacy of helping those in it, his friends told local media.
Two days before his death on May 28, Bickings had met with Tempe's mayor to discuss ways to help the homeless, CBS affiliate AZ Family reported.
Several reports said that Bickings was homeless at the time of his death and authorities described him as an "unsheltered" community member.
"He was a thinker, always had something thought-provoking to say," said Orionya Jensen, who knew Bickings for years and was once homeless, per AZ Family.
The outlet reported that Jensen and some of Bickings' friends wish to continue his legacy of aiding the homeless, starting with a call for new safety measures at the lake where he died.
"There can be many things to be done, there looks like a great wall for some life preservers, maybe some buoys out there that could have been assisted," said Jensen, per AZ Family.
The circumstances around Bickings' death have come under national scrutiny after a body-camera-footage transcript from police officers showed that they refused to rescue him as he drowned.
Three officers had arrived on the scene because of a reported dispute between Bickings and his wife.
As the officers checked their names in a database for any outstanding arrest warrants, Bickings climbed over a fence and prepared to jump into the lake.
Footage showed that one officer had warned Bickings against swimming in the lake before the latter entered the water. The officers then kept track of Bickings as he swam away, asking him what he planned to do and following him on a bridge.
A cyclist on a nearby bridge can be heard in the footage warning the officers that there are turbines in the lake that could suck Bickings in. One officer also called out to Bickings, asking: "You know you're not swimming out of there, right?"
According to the transcript, Bickings told officers he was "going to drown," but none of them intervened. Instead, one of the officers told Bickings, "I'm not jumping in after you," while another officer instructed Bickings to swim towards a pylon, per the transcript.
Per the transcript, Bickings' wife asked the officers to help her husband while he was in the water and was told they had called for a boat.
The released video did not show the drowning due to the "sensitive nature" of the footage, a disclaimer read.
The Tempe Officers Association, the city's police union, said in a statement that city police officers aren't trained or equipped for water rescues and could drown together with the victim, according to Today. Instead, officers are trained to call the Fire Department or get a police boat, which the officers did, the statement said, per the outlet.
Attempting a water rescue without prior training can be dangerous for the would-be rescuer, and organizations that teach water safety often emphasize the phrase "Throw, Don't Go." According to the Red Cross, the "one thing you do not want to do" when helping a drowning person is to "jump in the water to help."
The three officers involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave while the investigation into Bickings' death continues.
Corey Woods, Tempe's mayor, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.