TX - Sandra Bland, 28, found dead in jail cell, Waller County, 13 July 2015 #2

[human]

In Iraq, I raided insurgents. In Virginia, the police raided me.
By Alex Horton July 24, Washington Post, 7/24/15
Alex Horton is a member of the Defense Council at the Truman National Security Project. He served as an infantryman in Iraq with the Army’s 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

"The culture that encourages police officers to engage their weapons before gathering information promotes the mind-set that nothing, including citizen safety, is more important than officers’ personal security. That approach has caused public trust in law enforcement to deteriorate... ."

"And when you threaten to Taser a woman during a routine traffic stop (as happened to 28-year-old Sandra Bland, who died in a Texas jail this month), you cultivate a fear of police. This makes policing more dangerous for everyone."

This is an excellent article and gets right to the heart of the matter. Building Relationships.

 

[margarita25]

Not upset. I was just asked for my perception of the situation so I gave my Italian/irish Roman catholic from New Yawk spin on my perception of Law Enforcement encounters. We treated them like a cross between our priest, a principal the pope. Mad respect. A squad car cruised by and half the neighborhood froze in their tracks like in a sci Fi movie. But it was all good. Morals, respect, accountability...


Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Me too. Been raised to respect them. And always have. And still do, especially considering our reliance on them in missing person/abduction cases, etc. They risk their lives to keep us safe and fight crime. But honestly imo there are great cops out there but more and more these days there seem to be cops that are way out of line and abuse their power imo, to the point of making good law abiding citizens feel afraid. I have felt uncomfortable a couple times recently when being pulled over. Generally speaking I think the most dangerous predator, and I've said this before, is someone that people trust and someone who has full access and knows the system/is above the law. Unfortunately we are powerless in some situations...if a cop says jump, you say how high.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I see both sides of this situation as one who is Pro LE, but am noticing some things which are not appropriate more and more these days, jmo.

There is a show by the producer of COPS called "JAIL". There is one jail officer on there who I swear is just looking for an excuse to tase someone, jmo, and does so unjustly on just about every episode it seems like.

There are good cops and not so good cops. And the not so good cops are truly scary imo.

I hope I did not break any rules here. If so, I apologize, please delete.

 

[arkansasmimi]

LOL AGREE. But that isn't a sure-fire way to accomplish the mission, IMO. Do you know or does anyone know where she was found and how she connected the rope-bag? JMO TYIA

Reporter on CNN alluded to she tied it on the Y shaped pole that attaches to the wall giving privacy to toilet area. JMHO

 

[kimlynn]

BBM for focus. I agree. I think most of us would have obeyed our gut animal instinct for survival in the face of a perceived threat, rather than obeying the rational part of our brain that might have been advising to resist now and fight it out in court later.

Also we don't know her background. If she had ever been abused someone being loud/angry or reaching for her could have made her feel the need to protect herself. Just a thought. IMO

 

[human]

I really am curious as to why people on here seem to have been raised with how to act with police?

My parents never had police encounters. The only LE I knew of was the man who supervised the sixth grade crossing guards. And that is only because he presented the boys with a jackknife for their service. Girls could be hall monitors but not crossing guards back then.

Then we had Andy Griffith.

Who knew that we had to act a certain way with our friendly cop. Not me

 

[Deleted member 39678]

Trying to stay on topic

Lets say that Sandra didn't commit suicide and decided to stand up and fight for justice. She would have been released eventually either by bond or on her own recognizance.

The DA would look at the evidence supplied by LE supporting the arrest. They would see very little. The alleged assault took place out of view of the dash cam. No independent witness's have come forward.

The DA would most likely dismiss the case and Sandra goes free to live her life. She could have then pursued a civil lawsuit and gained some compensation for her misfortunes.

Sadly this isn't how this case ended.

JMO

 

[Deleted member 39678]

I really am curious as to why people on here seem to have been raised with how to act with police?

My parents never had police encounters. The only LE I knew of was the man who supervised the sixth grade crossing guards. And that is only because he presented the boys with a jackknife for their service. Girls could be hall monitors but not crossing guards back then.

Then we had Andy Griffith.

Who knew that we had to act a certain way with our friendly cop. Not me

I could answer your question but we have been told to stay on topic.

 

[arkansasmimi]

Just my honest opinion, but I believe from watching SB facebook videos, and this, that her opinion of LEO had a great deal to do with her actions/inactions. She was going to show that officer. And he was wrong too. She saw him, she saw him u-turn when she ran the stop sign, I think she was probably surprised that he said did not use turn signal instead of ran stop sign.

Snip
Chicago church that Sandra Bland attended for many of her 28 years, turning out in such numbers that even the overflow viewing room ran out of chairs. From the pulpit, relatives and friends recounted happy memories of Ms. Bland’s faith and social activism, and restated their belief that her death in a Texas jail was no suicide.

“That baby did not take herself out of here,” said Geneva Reed-Veal, Ms. Bland’s mother, during the funeral here at DuPage African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Ms. Reed-Veal spoke at length, telling mourners about a recent road trip she had taken with her daughter. On their way to visit relatives in Tennessee, Ms. Reed-Veal said, Ms. Bland told her she had found a calling and planned to pursue it by returning to Texas, where she had attended college.

"Her purpose was to stop all injustice against blacks in the South,” Ms. Reed-Veal said at the funeral.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/us/sandra-bland-funeral-texas.html?_r=0 JMHO

 

[Montjoy]

Why is it silly? Cops have been burned.]

RSBM

From people inside a car? Non-aggressive women
Show me the sources that suggest that such a person need be arrested like Sandra was.

 

[arkansasmimi]

If family hasn't figured it out in 26 years, how are correctional personnel supposed to know. I get that they have some training but there are so many drama queens in jail and also trying to bring lawsuits against the system. SB's family will more than likely try to make money from her death. Instead of being intellectually and factually honest about her personality and mental state, they are saying she would never try to kill herself. They know it's not true, IMO. But they will seek the blood money they hope is coming.

“That baby did not take herself out of here,” said Geneva Reed-Veal, Ms. Bland’s mother, during the funeral here at DuPage African Methodist Episcopal Church. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/us/sandra-bland-funeral-texas.html?_r=0

 

[Rocco]

Trying to stay on topic

Lets say that Sandra didn't commit suicide and decided to stand up and fight for justice. She would have been released eventually either by bond or on her own recognizance.

The DA would look at the evidence supplied by LE supporting the arrest. They would see very little. The alleged assault took place out of view of the dash cam. No independent witness's have come forward.

The DA would most likely dismiss the case and Sandra goes free to live her life. She could have then pursued a civil lawsuit and gained some compensation for her misfortunes.

Sadly this isn't how this case ended.

JMO

The female officer that came to the scene saw the scuffle. The dash cam shows her pointing to his leg and commenting about the mark. The charge was assaulting a PO. I don't see the charges being dismissed. Not a chance. But that's JMO.

 

[margarita25]

The female officer that came to the scene saw the scuffle. The dash cam shows her pointing to his leg and commenting about the mark. The charge was assaulting a PO. I don't see the charges being dismissed. Not a chance. But that's JMO.

SB probably thought the same thing, that there's no chance she's getting out of it, assault on a PO. Long term in jail...easily a motive for suicide, imo.

On the other side, a violent scuffle could have occurred and she died as a result, hence a cover up. Is that the consensus here as far as how things went down? Or does anyone think she was purposely killed for another reason, like blowing the whistle on the officer's conduct?

Sorry, this has probably been discussed so much already, I have missed a lot, I will go back and read bc I am very interested in those who think she was murdered, what they think happened, specifically.

 

[Deleted member 39678]

The female officer that came to the scene saw the scuffle. The dash cam shows her pointing to his leg and commenting about the mark. The charge was assaulting a PO. I don't see the charges being dismissed. Not a chance. But that's JMO.

If I was the DA and I presented that as evidence to a jury I would not expect a guilty verdict. It's too weak.

Your going to count on the testimony of a fellow police officer to get to "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt"?

Not going to happen.

 

[Deleted member 39678]

SB probably thought the same thing, that there's no chance she's getting out of it, assault on a PO. Long term in jail...easily a motive for suicide, imo.

On the other side, a violent scuffle could have occurred and she died as a result, hence a cover up. Is that the consensus here as far as how things went down? Or does anyone think she was purposely killed for another reason, like blowing the whistle on the officer's conduct?

Sorry, this has probably been discussed so much already, I have missed a lot, I will go back and read bc I am very interested in those who think she was murdered, what they think happened, specifically.

There's no evidence that supports any murder conspiracy in Sandra Bland's death.


Everything points to a suicide at this point.

Can I ask where did you hear that Sandra was murdered?

 

[arkansasmimi]

I listened again last night to that portion of the tape. His exact words were that he wanted her out of the car so he could give her the ticket and explain what was going on.
He did later say/mumble that he was in the middle of the street....which wasn't true.

Respectfully BBM and I disagree,

 

[margarita25]

There's no evidence that supports any murder conspiracy in Sandra Bland's death.


Everything points to a suicide at this point.

Can I ask where did you hear that Sandra was murdered?

I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that some people might think this and that that was one aspect of what the hype in this case was all about...I actually did not see that anywhere come to think of it lol as I have avoided social media on this case, but for some reason I thought some people might think this since there seems to be much publicity in this case. Hope that makes sense!

 

[Deleted member 39678]

I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that some people might think this and that that was one aspect of what the hype in this case was all about...I actually did not see that anywhere come to think of it lol as I have avoided social media on this case, but for some reason I thought some people might think this due to all the publicity surrounding this case. Hope that makes sense!

It makes sense that you have heard that Sandra was murdered. What doesn't make sense is why some people have said that.

 

[margarita25]

It makes sense that you have heard that Sandra was murdered. What doesn't make sense is why some people have said that.

That's why I was asking, to see why someone might think that, if they did indeed think that.

 

[Deleted member 39678]

That's why I was asking, to see why someone might think that, if they did indeed think that.

I think some people feel that when someone dies while in police custody it either means they where negligent or they purposely killed them.

It's cut or dry.

 

[arkansasmimi]

And the previous driver had no proof of insurance, IIRC. Which is a bigger deal than not using one's blinker. Yet driver #1 was free to go.

In my state, no insurance is a big deal. Not jail time, but very expensive ticket. Did the first motorist get a ticket or a warning?

A Warning. JMHO, I got the impression that prev driver had insurance but not proof in her veh, as he asked to have father to fax to a number. I could be misremembering. Now days when you get veh insurance, the info is entered into data base, or thats what I understood from reading another case on which a person in my state had a fake paper and when was getting tag renewal the info on paper did not reflect what data showed. Person was charged/convicted of insurance fraud.