Why was Sandra Bland arrested in the first place?
Email
December 25, 2015, 7:00 a.m.
To the editor: I may be naive, but I think law enforcement officers are worthy of gratitude and respect — but there’s nothing synonymous between respect and fear. (“Texas grand jury finds no cause for indictment in Sandra Bland case,” Dec. 21)
Even if Sandra Bland, who earlier this year was found dead in her Texas jail cell three days after being arrested, were in a suicidal frame of mind, to what extent may it have been exacerbated by her finding herself in a jail cell frightened of police abuse all the while? And to what extent were her captors aware of her mental state and negligent in monitoring her accordingly?
I’ve heard it said that Bland would probably be alive today had she not been arrested and that it is highly uncommon for anyone to be arrested under similar circumstances. This is what troubles me.
Ronald Webster, Long Beach
The above email was received by the editor of the LA Times regarding Sandra Brand. I thought that I would save the editor of the LA Times the time and trouble and answer for the editor.
Dear Mr. Webster,
Your confusion is understandable, but there is a simple explanation for the events leading up to Sandra Bland’s death. It all began when two assholes met up on the side of a Texas highway. The assholes had a disagreement and one of them went to jail. It may seem that classifying both participants as assholes is a subjective judgment but the actions of each will demonstrate that it is not a subjective judgment but one fully supported by objective fact.
Miss Bland committed two minor traffic violations in the presence and view of a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper. The trooper decided to initiate a traffic stop on Miss Bland and according to later statements give her a written warning. Events show that he changed his mind after meeting Ms. Bland.
There are dinosaur cops out there, me being one, that maintain, “make up your mind prior to contact and carry through on the plan.” This is a general rule and does not always apply. The guy I stopped for failing to maintain a single lane, did not get the ticket I intended when I made contact and found out he came in second in a knife fight. I digress.
Ms. Bland apparently perceived the break the trooper was offering as a sign of weakness and in fulfillment of the old adage, “no good deed goes unpunished” decided to go for the gold in the roadside game, “who can be the biggest asshole?”
Folks, here’s a secret you don’t know. When a cop makes a traffic stop on a stretch of highway it certainly affects the individual stopped. It also affects all the people who pass and the people approaching who can’t even see the stop. Long after the stop is over cars in that stretch of highway are liable to obey the traffic laws. Of course, the passing drivers don’t know whether the stopped driver is getting a citation, a warning or a reminder from the wife to pick up the dry cleaning. So the stop itself has a value over and above any enforcement action.
Texas Troopers come from a culture where they are told they are the best. They are naturally competitive, not very bright, but competitive. The trooper, recognizing the competition for what it was went on the offensive to reclaim the title of “biggest asshole in the bar ditch.” There is a perception among cops who deal almost exclusively in making misdemeanor arrests (troopers, traffic cops) that if disrespect is left unchallenged the foundation of American law enforcement will crumble and the whole establishment will come tumbling down. The fail safe in any argument with a cop is looser goes to jail.
The problem is that when assholes get into competitions like this, the after effects generally spreads and slops over to other people. These other people may not even know that a competition has taken place and have no stake in the outcome. However, they have to deal with the mess left behind.
The jailers in Walker County processed Ms. Bland just like every other prisoner that comes into the facility. They would have determined that she had prior experience in a jail facility and made a judgment as to any threat she may have posed to herself and others. I don’t know, but suspect, if Ms. Bland had the ability or the prospect of making bail they would have sent her on her way.
Ms. Bland contacted her family to inform them she was in jail and to make arrangements for her release. The family apparently did not regard her predicament as a priority. Three days later she was still in jail. Could it be, they too were tired of her shit? Ultimately the decision to commit suicide was Ms. Bland’s alone. She sure showed the trooper.
The trooper acted within the confines of the law. Most traffic stops do not result in a physical arrest. A driver possessing a valid Texas driver’s license can be arrested for any traffic infraction, except speeding. Due to assignments it has been over twenty years since I made traffic contacts on a routine basis. I don’t believe my reaction then and now have changed. She had her warning, I would have terminated the stop, got in my patrol car and boogied.
That option may not have been available to the trooper. DPS is a large organization with a culture that is unlike municipal law enforcement agencies. DPS has weird notions of honor, bravery, and appropriate behavior. For example in the 1970’s DPS decided to issue ballistic vests to the Highway Patrol. DPS had to special order the vests, at considerable expense, because no vendor made a vest to their specifications. DPS specified that their vests consist of only a front panel. All vests manufactured to that point (and since) provided front and back protection. The vendors tried to point out that DPS could order a vest off the rack that protected their officers front and back at considerably less expense. The argument fell on deaf ears. DPS replied that they didn’t need back protection because their troopers didn’t run. City cops observed it was hard to sneak up on a trooper to ambush him because coffee shops were well lit and they always sat with their back to a wall.
These notions can be further warped by the local DPS Sergeant. With a video camera in the patrol car recording everything that transpired the possibility of Monday morning quarterbacking was very real. Any challenge to DPS supremacy in all things that was not overcome could result in action against the trooper. This is a very long explanation for what is summed up in the title, “Two assholes got into an argument and one of them went to jail.”