- A water rescue expert says that he "doesn't blame" the Tempe, Arizona cops for not diving in to rescue a drowning man.
- If the officers were not properly trained to do so, they had "no other choice," water safety expert Gerald Dworkin told Insider.
- A retired Coast Guard commander also said first responders shouldn't dive in without proper training.
A veteran water safety and rescue expert says that he "doesn't blame" the Tempe, Arizona cops for not jumping into a lake to save a drowning man because they had "no other choice" if they weren't properly trained how to save someone drowning.
"Unless the police officers were trained as rescue swimmers and equipped to perform an in-water rescue, they did the right thing by not entering the water," Gerald Dworkin — the founder of Lifesaving Resources, a Maine-based aquatics safety training company — told Insider on Tuesday.
Dworkin, a firefighter who has trained first responders in water rescue and ice rescue situations nationally for nearly four decades through his firm, said, "I do not blame the police officers in the least for not entering the water and putting their own lives in danger."
Three Tempe Police Department officers were at Tempe Town Lake at around 5 a.m. on May 28 when Sean Bickings climbed over a fence and hopped in the water after speaking with the cops, who were there after getting a call about a dispute.
The officers did not go into the water after 34-year-old Bickings even as he battled to stay afloat and pleaded for help, according to a police body-camera-footage transcript that was released by the city last week.
At one point, an officer told a struggling Bickings, "OK, I'm not jumping in after you," the transcript shows.
Members of the Tempe police force "receive no training in water rescues" and do not have "equipment to help people at risk of drowning," according to the Tempe Officers Association, which represents officers of the department.
"Officers are trained to call the Fire Department and/or get the Tempe Police boat. That is what officers did here," the union said.
The three officers involved in the incident were put on paid leave as the department investigates their response to the drowning.
If the officers were not properly trained to go in the water in an attempt to save Bickings, Dworkin says their hands were tied.
"They had no other choice unless they were trained, specifically trained for water rescue and equipped for water rescue," said Dworkin.
Dworkin noted that "most" cops are not trained to perform such a rescue and that even lifeguards trained through organizations like the American Red Cross are taught to only perform a water rescue using a flotation device.
"The general public looks at police officers and firefighters as if they're wearing capes, that they're capable of responding to any type of emergency and the reality is that most police officers are not trained or equipped to perform a water rescue," Dworkin said.
Another water safety expert agreed that entering the water without rescue equipment or training could lead to multiple victims.
"You don't want to go into the water to rescue someone unless you have no other recourse," retired US Coast Guard commander Dave Smith, who founded the Michigan-based Smith Aquatic Safety Service in 1981, told Insider.
He explained, "A drowning human goes berserk and they only want one thing and that's air and they'll climb up on a rescuer to get air."
"If you don't know what to do and you're in the water with a person who is drowning, get away from them because you're likely to drown yourself, unfortunately," he said.
Smith, whose company primarily trains emergency responders in water rescue and accident prevention, said that he has taught first responders for years to keep a personal floatation device and a rescue "throw bag" in their vehicles.
"Any community that has water and emergency service personnel responding potentially to accidents in the water needs to have just a simple life jacket in each of their vehicles," Smith said.
Additionally, Smith said that he recommends police departments turn to organizations like the Red Cross for basic rescue training.