At one point, one of the officers says: “I'm not jumping in after you”
The Tempe Police Department says the officers are on paid administrative leave after last month’s drowning in a city lake.
The video ends there. But the transcript shows two officers repeatedly tell Bickings to swim to a pylon and “hold on.” Bickings continuously says “I can't" and pleads for help.Bickings swam in all for roughly 40 yards under a pedestrian bridge, city officials said. Police were originally responding to reports of a fight just after 5 a.m. between Bickings and a female companion. When questioned, both denied any physical altercation had taken place. But officers ran their names through a background check and found Bickings had three outstanding warrants.