Three police officers were caught on camera refusing to dive into a lake to save a drowning homeless man, with one recorded saying “I’m not jumping in”.
The harrowing incident was captured on camera showing the officers standing by and watching as the homeless man called for help.
They didn’t act as 34-year-old Sean Bickings slowly drowned and one even said: “I’m not jumping in after you”.
At one point, a member of the public shouted "He's drowning right in front of you and you won't help" at the unmoving cops.
The three Arizona police officers have now been placed on paid leave after the horrific death in Tempe Town Lake in the US state.
In the extended video, Mr Bickings could be heard crying to police that he was “going to drown” and soon slipped underwater. He was later declared dead.
At the beginning, the officer is seen leaning against the railing telling Mr Bickings he can't swim in the lake as he takes off and swims away from them.
They are later heard discussing over the radio how he swam into the lake to swim away from the cops.
The city authorities described Mr Bickings’ death as a “tragedy” and called him “an unsheltered Tempe community member”.
The incident took place shortly after 5am local time on May 28.
Officers responded to call about an alleged fight between the man and his partner in the city centre.
But, according to the city statement, the couple “cooperated fully and denied that any physical argument had taken place.”
The unedited police footage shows the officers checking the couple’s names for any outstanding arrest warrants.
It is then Mr Bickings clambered over a metal fence at the edge of the lake and entered into the water.
It is shortly after this that the body cam footage ends with a message at the end saying it had been cut short "due to the sensitive nature of the remaining portion of the recording".
The city provided a transcript instead of the remainder of the exchange.
Hauntingly, Mr Bickings could be repeatedly heard crying out that he was on the verge of drowning and desperately needed help.
The transcript also revealed that officers, instead of saving Mr Bickings’, tried to calm down his companion as she grew increasingly terrified at the incident.
At one point, she shouted: "He's drowning right in front of you and you won't help" and they told her they were getting a boat.
The three officers involved in the incident have not been named.
They are on "non-disciplinary paid administrative leave" as their response is examined by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the police department of neighbouring Scottsdale.
