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He was more than a bit of a hard-ass, and right there, you are letting him off. Not to mention, you're repeatedly telling the heroic stories of your own encounters with police-- this is how a person is supposed to act because this is how I act, and if you don't act that way, then he has every right to be an ass. His own department, and other police agencies, have acknowledged that he acted improperly, that he purposely escalated the situation. This is the kicker, Kathryn- he issupposed to be fully in control of the situation, and of his own emotions, and was not. But, hey, you are polite in your encounters with the police, so she deserved what she got, because she was a B I T C H.
I gave my own example because (thankfully) traffic pullovers have been my only interactions with police officers. And due to my lead foot, I've been pulled over repeatedly, so traffic stops, in Texas, aren't something that I'm unfamiliar with unfortunately.
Honestly, I do not see the problem with the cop's behavior - or let me put it this way, anything particularly unusual in his behavior - until Ms. Bland gets belligerent with him repeatedly. Like I said, if I was in his shoes, her inflammatory behavior would have aroused suspicion in me. He has been reprimanded by his department from what I understand.
That being said, his behavior didn't cause her death - she committed suicide, and apparently she had not only substance abuse problems but emotional/mental problems as well. I know that people will say "But if he hadn't acted unprofessionally she wouldn't have been in jail!" I'm not so sure about that. She was spring loaded and was looking for a fight. She had drugs in her system. Not a good combination.
By the way, I agree totally with Cali about recording the interaction and getting out of it alive. Police misconduct isn't limited to Texas traffic stops, that's for sure. Webcams are cheap.
By the way, I agree totally with Cali about recording the interaction and getting out of it alive. Police misconduct isn't limited to Texas traffic stops, that's for sure. Webcams are cheap.
Just saying... Bland was prevented from recording the interaction and so were other bystanders that attempted to do the same thing... and why, why, why, are you still repeating the mantra of cooperation with the police? Bland did not care to cooperate! If she had it to do over again she would still do it the way she did. She was an activist! I'm never saying this again. The empty sanctimony is simply of the chain. Some people don't care to act like YOU. Get over it. Some people don't have stable, middle class lives with a lot to look forward to! Some people don't see an upside to the continuation of their lives. When you wrestle that jumper back on the bridge deck then what? The hero moment is over. Now what? You go home with the glow of having "saved a life". Do you think about the person you saved?
I gave my own example because (thankfully) traffic pullovers have been my only interactions with police officers. And due to my lead foot, I've been pulled over repeatedly, so traffic stops, in Texas, aren't something that I'm unfamiliar with unfortunately.
Honestly, I do not see the problem with the cop's behavior - or let me put it this way, anything particularly unusual in his behavior - until Ms. Bland gets belligerent with him repeatedly. Like I said, if I was in his shoes, her inflammatory behavior would have aroused suspicion in me. He has been reprimanded by his department from what I understand.
That being said, his behavior didn't cause her death - she committed suicide, and apparently she had not only substance abuse problems but emotional/mental problems as well. I know that people will say "But if he hadn't acted unprofessionally she wouldn't have been in jail!" I'm not so sure about that. She was spring loaded and was looking for a fight. She had drugs in her system. Not a good combination.
The drug she had in her system was cannabis. If you had said meth I might see where you are going with this. You should stop. You are making yourself look pretty bad. Also as I understand it, the drugs in her system were detected post mortem. Four days at least since she could have possibly taken them in. What the hell kind of jail are they running down there? A LOT of things just don't add up in this whole sorry incident.
I agree 100%, but that's where we are. People need to be smarter about this and stop dying for the cause. It's dumb as hell!
People are going to be people, from dumb to smart, cooperative to belligerent, sweet to rude, easy going to angry.
There's not much we can do about that. We can do something about training and hiring the right people to handle it.
Law enforcement can and should be trained to deal with all personalities. I wouldn't keep a person who can't keep their cool when dealing with difficult customers in the front of house of my business, let alone someone who's got absolute power and authority out on the street, and who can get themselves or someone else killed in the process of wielding it.
People are going to be people, from dumb to smart, cooperative to belligerent, sweet to rude, easy going to angry.
There's not much we can do about that. We can do something about training and hiring the right people to handle it.
Law enforcement can and should be trained to deal with all personalities. I wouldn't keep a person who can't keep their cool when dealing with difficult customers in the front of house of my business, let alone someone who's got absolute power and authority out on the street, and who can get themselves or someone else killed in the process.
Yeah, there is something lacking in PD training and mental health maintenance for sure!
Yeah, there is something lacking in PD training and mental health maintenance for sure!
One need doesn't nehate the other.
Since this country has gone to community based mental health treatment the PD is at a disadvantage. While in-patient institutions had many abuses, something could have been done to treat people in an in patient setting.
I would be there were less police shootings when in patient institutions were up and running.
The officer asked Ms. Bland a question at the beginning about how she was. If he did not and she had a bad day then she would have been saying the officer was not compassionate.
I wonder how many people can say if this was a different race of police officer would he/she been treated differently by Ms. Bland?
If the police officer let Ms. Bland go and she was involved in an accident how many people would be blaming this police officer, for not holding Ms. Bland?
Ms. Bland was smoking a cigarette and the officer asked for her exit the car, she said no that was her right. The police officer does have a right if he spots something in the car or smells something to ask the driver to exit the car. In this case he probably starting smelling marijuana behind the cigarette smoke smell after standing there listening to her rant. He was going to perform a check. Not knowing anyone when a police officer pulls people over he doesn't know if she had a gun in the car or if she was high as a kite and would pull a knife on him, he felt threatened and said the wrong thing.
Everyone says he could have handled it differently and I agree but I do believe Ms. Bland should have handled it differently.
Ms. Bland's toxicology showed marijuana in her system since she had been using before. This is in her records she had been picked up for it before. Yes, it could have been for seizures and if that was so then she should have a letter for rx on file from the doctor that prescribed it.
Police officers have to have compassion and in a small way he was trying to show it by asking a question. If he didn't then some people may call him insensitive. In this day and age to be a police officer it is a hard line of work with not many rewards. You can be killed one day on a routine traffic violation since you do not know if that next car has that you pull over has someone that carries a gun.
We as humans have little pet peeves and do not know what sets off each other and in this case Ms. Bland's pet peeve was police officers and her rights. I am not saying that she did not have the right to voice them, however it could have been handled better on both ends.
The trooper was probably brought up to respect authority.
Sandra Bland was fighting for a cause and felt no need to respect his authority so she fought him every inch of the way.
He decided to not let her get away with that and she didn't.
Another way he could have handled it?
Give her a ticket instead of the warning he was trying to issue or keep his mouth shut and bow down to her.
He decided to start a cause of his own, the fight for his belief in respect for authority.
Before I thought her suicide was probably because she lost the job but now I'm wondering if she just decided to "take one for the cause".
Since this country has gone to community based mental health treatment the PD is at a disadvantage. While in-patient institutions had many abuses, something could have been done to treat people in an in patient setting.
I would be there were less police shootings when in patient institutions were up and running.
See, what I got from recent posts was that applicant screening and training for law enforcement entities would reduce police shootings regardless of what goes on with respect to mental health services in the community. And I agree. A thug is a thug whether he is British or American. Britain kills far fewer of their thugs than America. NONE of the many, many thugs killed in recent controversial police shootings would have received the death penalty for their perceived transgressions. They have wired officers to bio-telemetry equipment and put them in real world typical pull over situations. Whenever a majority of officers pull over black drivers, their telemetry readings go off the scale. Nothing about the African American driver, not their age, their gender or their deportment varies the response. An officer cannot think clearly when their heart rate has hit 200bpm. They are in a virtual fight or flight situation just from having viewed an African American. I think all officers should be tested during their training for their involuntary responses to African Americans and those that display these panic reflexes should not be deployed where they can possibly encounter African Americans while they are in an enforcement capacity.
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I'm never saying this again. The empty sanctimony is simply of the chain. Some people don't care to act like YOU. Get over it. Some people don't have stable, middle class lives with a lot to look forward to! Some people don't see an upside to the continuation of their lives. When you wrestle that jumper back on the bridge deck then what? The hero moment is over. Now what? You go home with the glow of having "saved a life". Do you think about the person you saved?
The drug she had in her system was cannabis. If you had said meth I might see where you are going with this. You should stop. You are making yourself look pretty bad. Also as I understand it, the drugs in her system were detected post mortem. Four days at least since she could have possibly taken them in. What the hell kind of jail are they running down there? A LOT of things just don't add up in this whole sorry incident.
