Two years after Sean Bickings’ death, his family planned a wake Saturday evening at Tempe Town Lake, where he drowned as police watched.
The vigil was expected to commemorate his life and continue the fight to raise awareness of the dangers people face on the streets, an announcement from the family said.
“Sean was very big on homeless issues, and he met with the mayor about these issues and how police should approach homeless people,” said Benjamin Taylor, the family’s attorney. “It is ironic and very disheartening that after meeting with the mayor just a few days later, he dies because of the way the Tempe Police Department treated him.”
Bickings’ death made national headlines in the summer of 2022 after two Tempe officers saw him drowning. The officers had approached Bickings and a woman while responding to a domestic dispute call on May 28, 2022. Bickings walked away from the officers, and as officers approached, he went over the lake railing to avoid officers.
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Once in the water, Bickings asked if he was free to go and began swimming further into the lake before he began to drown and asked for help. The officers told Bickings they would not go after him.
His death led to demands for responsibility from the community of people experiencing homelessness to which Bickings belonged. They felt that the officers were indifferent to Bickings’ cries for help.
After his death, Tempe officials announced that the city would make changes to help prevent future drownings.
Tempe installed float rings around the lake, provided officers with life jackets and throwable float bags, and funded a $1.8 million park ranger program to increase patrols around the parks and lake.
It has also put together a co-response program, which requires police to work with the city’s crisis response team, called Care 7, to respond to calls about homicide, domestic violence and sexual assault. Care 7 and the city’s homelessness team will work with police to respond to calls relating to people experiencing homelessness.
Nearly a year after his drowning, Bickings’ family filed a lawsuit against Tempe, the Tempe Police Department and the officers who responded to the call, saying they were all reckless and negligent.
Tempe police rescued a dog from the lake about a week before Bickings drowned, according to the complaint, but officers “didn’t even walk to the shore … while a human being drowned to death before their eyes.”
The municipality does not want to comment on the lawsuit because it is still pending.
“While we sympathize with those who mourn him, it is not our practice to discuss pending litigation,” said Kris Baxter, the city’s interim communications director.
Wake up information: Saturday, May 25 at 5pm near the Tempe Center of the Arts at Tempe Town Lake.
Reach the reporter at miguel.torres@arizonarepublic.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sean Bicking’s wake was planned two years after his death
