Woman moves from Illinois to Texas and ends up dead in jail cell

[Anonymous]

How do people become so combative when put into these situations? Is it human nature or cultural . We teach our children to comply with they police, is it cultural or are we doing it wrong? Should we teach our children to avoid confrontation.

[Anonymous]

First who isnt annoyed when getting a ticket especially when they dont think they did anything. Second, an attitude is not cause to forcibly go in someone's car and take them out.

What frustrating is some people blindly side with the cop. Let's concede her attitude was bad. The officer was 2 minutes away from giving her the ticket. The attitude didnt start from the minute he got to the car. Furthermore, what exactly are you charging her for if we are sticking with this attitude caused everything theory? Break it down to me on what exact charges, motive, and everything was Bland going in for. Also, explain to me if such an attitude warrants forcing your way into the car. She had every right to deny the order to get out of the car when no explanation was given by the officer.

Lastly, if the officer and everyone involved didnt think they did anything wrong which some of you are conceding because Bland had this attitude, why did the officers story of the events not match the dash cam? Someone not doing anything wrong or thinking they had motive is not going to retell a story that doesnt match the video. If you champion and understand the officer, please explain this hole?

[Anonymous]

I learned at a young age to not mouth off or piss pff the cops. After a night in jail I changed my attitude and it has worked for me ever since.

[Anonymous]

Bottom line is that it was an unlawful arrest. The police officer can be legally charged for false imprisonment. The city or county can be sued for false and unlawful detention. The parents will recover civil damages because of this blowhard police officer. He asked her what was wrong, she told him, and he did not like the answer. He power tripped and it's going to lead to his dismissal and this girl's untimely death.

You people can make all the excuses you like about how she escalated, but she didn't. She simply answered his question. Did you see how fast he was driving to get up on her butt in so little time. And btw, you can't arrest someone for smoking a cigarette in their car. The cigarette did not seem to bother him until she answered the question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cop's bosses officially say HE was in the wrong:

Trooper Brian Encinia, has been put on administrative leave after a preliminary investigation found he violated the Texas Department of Public Safety’s traffic stop and courtesy procedures during the stop, which was for an improper lane change.
“Regardless of the situation, the DPS state trooper has an obligation to exhibit professionalism and be courteous,” DPS Director Steve McCraw told the Washington Post. “That did not happen in this situation.”

After watching the dashcam video, Texas State Senator Royce West said at a press conference that it’s clear she never should have been arrested.

http://heavy.com/news/2015/07/brian-encinia-texas-state-trooper-waller-county-officer-cop-arrested-sandra-sandy-bland-traffic-stop-video-arrest-investigation-desk-duty-fired-charges-wrongdoing-photo-age-experience/

I hope her family takes them to the cleaners.

They will. Pull out the checkbook. You know what's so fracked up about all these cases? The taxpayers end up paying for poor police performance. All you people championing this foolish police must not mind paying taxes for their machismo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There are two different things here. First, would it have been wiser for Sandra Bland to have been compliant and subdued and not acted annoyed and put out her cigarette when the cop asked her to? Obviously, yes because then maybe she wouldn't have ended up dead! (MAYBE. Of course many black Americans in recent times have been murdered by the police with less "provocation" than this.)

Separately, was she morally and legally justified in acting annoyed, refusing to put the cigarette out, asking why she was being asked to get out of the car and then arrested? YES!

On the other hand, was the cop justified in ANYTHING he did starting with asking her to put her cigarette out? NO! He had no right to ask her to do that. No reason to tell her to get out of the car. No legal reason to arrest her. Absolutely no reason to become physical with her, threaten to "light her up," hurt her while handcuffing her, tell her it was "good" she had epilepsy (!), and, it seems quite likely, ultimately participate in killing her.

This is the same reason many black parents tell their children to act hyper-respectful and subservient towards cops so they don't get killed. That is good advice given the reality of the world we live in and the apparently horrible state of police training and racism. But it SHOULD NOT be necessary. The police should not be arresting or beating or killing people for talking back or acting annoyed or asking valid questions. That this is even a point that needs to be argued is amazing!

Btw i am white and have never experienced anything like this video. It is so far out of my experience with the police I can't even say. I am almost never pulled over, have gotten a ticket only once even though I have deserved it many more times, and have NEVER been asked to leave my car. The foreignness of it is what makes me feel like, well it also seems crazy that the police would murder this woman in her jail cell, but given how the cop acted in the video, I have to think it's possible.

I can't even imagine the pain that Sandra's family and friends are experiencing.

This. He was pissy because she didn't "respect his authority." So what? Grow up, you big baby! He was exceeding his legal authority and didn't like that she wasn't subservient and compliant. So he wrongly arrested her. Oh, and edited or had someone edit that video, which STILL shows him in a terrible light.

The amount of authoritarianism on this board is terrifying. The idea that we must be totally subservient to the cops and kowtow to their power trips or they are somehow justified in arresting, beating, or killing us is so foreign to the idea of the rule of law it's not on the same planet. It is police who have an obligation to protect and serve the citizens of this country, not the other way around.

Yes, I wonder how many of these posters are immigrants or raised by immigrants from Eastern Block and Central American countries. Bend, duck, comply and don't question authority is a warped mindset.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So this likely wouldn't have happened if the officer had said, I understand your frustration. I hear that you were caught behind that driver, but I have no choice but to give you a ticket. If you disagree with the ticket you can refute it in traffic court. I hope the rest of your day is better. If the smoking was really bothering him he could have said, I'd really appreciate it if you'd put out your cigarette. The smoke is bothering me and I'm required to stand next to your car when writing the ticket. (Which is probably not true and I do wonder why he told her to put out her cigarette except as a power play).
Bottom line, he could have pretty easily de-escalated this. Why wasn't he trained to? Why aren't police trained to acknowledge people's frustrations and not "co-tantrum."

I can pretty much guarantee she would have been just as belligerent and disrespectful, even if he had responded/asked in this manner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So this likely wouldn't have happened if the officer had said, I understand your frustration. I hear that you were caught behind that driver, but I have no choice but to give you a ticket. If you disagree with the ticket you can refute it in traffic court. I hope the rest of your day is better. If the smoking was really bothering him he could have said, I'd really appreciate it if you'd put out your cigarette. The smoke is bothering me and I'm required to stand next to your car when writing the ticket. (Which is probably not true and I do wonder why he told her to put out her cigarette except as a power play).
Bottom line, he could have pretty easily de-escalated this. Why wasn't he trained to? Why aren't police trained to acknowledge people's frustrations and not "co-tantrum."

I can pretty much guarantee she would have been just as belligerent and disrespectful, even if he had responded/asked in this manner.

And that's fine. She is not legally required to be nice. Being a brat is not a crime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First who isnt annoyed when getting a ticket especially when they dont think they did anything. Second, an attitude is not cause to forcibly go in someone's car and take them out.

What frustrating is some people blindly side with the cop. Let's concede her attitude was bad. The officer was 2 minutes away from giving her the ticket. The attitude didnt start from the minute he got to the car. Furthermore, what exactly are you charging her for if we are sticking with this attitude caused everything theory? Break it down to me on what exact charges, motive, and everything was Bland going in for. Also, explain to me if such an attitude warrants forcing your way into the car. She had every right to deny the order to get out of the car when no explanation was given by the officer.

Lastly, if the officer and everyone involved didnt think they did anything wrong which some of you are conceding because Bland had this attitude, why did the officers story of the events not match the dash cam? Someone not doing anything wrong or thinking they had motive is not going to retell a story that doesnt match the video. If you champion and understand the officer, please explain this hole?

Right? Her attitude was bad, so everything the cop did was reasonable? Nonsense. She wasn't assaulting the cop. She wasn't threatening the cop. She wasn't even running away from the cop. She was sitting in her car and declined to instantaneously comply with orders that exceeded the cop's legal authority. And she wasn't happy about getting a ticket. How in the world does this justify an illegal arrest and her subsequent mistreatment by the policce.

Also, the cops edited the dash cam footage, and it still makes this cop look terrible. What do you think happened during the parts we can't see?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So this likely wouldn't have happened if the officer had said, I understand your frustration. I hear that you were caught behind that driver, but I have no choice but to give you a ticket. If you disagree with the ticket you can refute it in traffic court. I hope the rest of your day is better. If the smoking was really bothering him he could have said, I'd really appreciate it if you'd put out your cigarette. The smoke is bothering me and I'm required to stand next to your car when writing the ticket. (Which is probably not true and I do wonder why he told her to put out her cigarette except as a power play).
Bottom line, he could have pretty easily de-escalated this. Why wasn't he trained to? Why aren't police trained to acknowledge people's frustrations and not "co-tantrum."

I can pretty much guarantee she would have been just as belligerent and disrespectful, even if he had responded/asked in this manner.

I can't make that guarantee, but he still could have just written the ticket and gone on with his day.

Police have to deal with members of the public. Members of the public can be jerks, regardless of whether or not they are breaking the law. Dealing with jerks is definitely a crappy part of their job, just like anyone working a job that deals with the public.

After that encounter, he would have been 100% justified in complaining about this person to co-workers, friends, etc. Just like a person working retail can complain about the person who spent 10 minutes holding up the line making some kind of ridiculous demand for a return of an item past the return date.

However, "being a jerk" is not grounds for arrest, and it's certainly not grounds for dragging people out of their cars.

[Anonymous]

She should have never been arrested. There was another story of a young black girl who was arrested and then was later found dead in the woods in some small town in Texas. The police were never able to account for what happened and noone was ever charged. I wouldn't be surprised if something foul went down.

[Anonymous]

Did you notice that at the very beginning of the video, Bland passes the officer going *in the opposite direction*, and for..... some reason..... he does a U turn and follows her and pulls her over?

Guilty of driving while black.

[Anonymous]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf8GR3OO9mU&feature=youtu.be&t=68

The full video

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you notice that at the very beginning of the video, Bland passes the officer going *in the opposite direction*, and for..... some reason..... he does a U turn and follows her and pulls her over?

Guilty of driving while black.

Did she have out-of-state plates? Or purely DWB?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you notice that at the very beginning of the video, Bland passes the officer going *in the opposite direction*, and for..... some reason..... he does a U turn and follows her and pulls her over?

Guilty of driving while black.

Did she have out-of-state plates? Or purely DWB?

Good point, she did. Is that cause for being pulled over?