The Sandra Bland Act Actinclusiveness

The death of 28-year-old Sandra Bland is still the talk of the town though it occurred in 2015. Texas State Representative Garnet Coleman announced back in 2016 that he would be filing a bill for what is now known as the “Sandra Bland Act.” The act will ensure that, enough data is collected from routine traffic stops, additional training is provided to officers who need it, the use of de-escalation tactics will be increased and improved, increased pre-booking diversion, grants will be given to county jails to improve safety, minor traffic violation arrests will be prevented, and also enhancement of the pre-trial criminal justice system.
Bland was an Illinois native who planned on working at her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University in Texas. The day after her interview at the University, Bland was pulled over by Texas state trooper, Brian T. Encinia. After being pulled over, the state trooper asks for her license and registration, she complied. Brian then asked her to put out her cigarette which she did not agree with. Encinia commanded Bland to step out of the car but she refuses and ordered Encinia to tell her why.
The two continued to argue as Encinia pulled out his stun gun and told Bland, “I will light you up. Get out! Now! Get out of the car!” Bland got out of the vehicle and was handcuffed practically out of the view of the dash-cam, but audio was still being picked up. In the video, viewers can hear a screaming match going on between Bland and Encinia.
A tussle began off-screen as you can hear Bland yell that Encinia is about to break her wrists and that he has slammed her to the ground, causing her to hit her head. Encinia wrote in the affidavit that Bland kicked him.
She was detained and charged with assaulting a public servant, which is a felony charge. Her bail was set to $5,000. At 9 A.M. on July 13th, Bland was found hanging in her cell at a Waller County Jail.
The autopsy report had ruled her death a suicide by asphyxiation. The death of Sandra Bland was quite controversial, being that the media seemed to think her mugshot was taken after her death. Her face was sagging, and by the way that her dreadlocks layed as if she were laying on her back. “I’m a black guy. I’m 55 years old. I understand this stuff. I grew up in times that this was the norm. It’s 2015 and we are going through the same circumstances? It just didn’t compute to me,” said Garnet Coleman.
During the proposal of the Sandra Bland Act, the Texas House County Affairs Committee suggested that lawmakers mandate that jails add electronic monitoring systems to record when cell checks are done on inmates.
They also suggested that lawmakers require DPS to correctly document the race of the people that they pull over. “My goal is that the Sandra Bland Act, along with other policies, combined with a focus on building relationships will be able to make Texas safer for everyone. We will continue to address these issues going forward,” said Coleman in the closing statement of the proposal.