On July 10, when 28-year-old Sandra Bland was pulled over by Trooper Brian Encinia for a failure to signal when switching lanes, no one could have anticipated that she would be sitting in Waller County Jail. Even more grisly than that, no one could have anticipated that Bland would be found in her jail cell, lifeless and hanging with a plastic bag over her head.
The Harris County medical examiner ruled Bland’s death a suicide, but Bland’s family is adamant that Bland did not take her own life and that she was in good spirits before she was found dead. There has been an outcry by social media activists, claiming that Texas officials murdered Bland and that her mug shot photograph was staged.
Of course, the claims made by social media activists are unsubstantiated. However, whether or not Bland’s death was due to her own hands or the hands of someone else, the state of Texas and Trooper Encinia should be held responsible for her death.
Shortly after Bland’s death, footage from Encinia’s dashboard camera was released to the public. During the routine traffic stop, the video shows Encinia asking Bland to put out her cigarette and Bland responding, “I’m in my car. Why do I have to put out my cigarette?” After that, Encinia demanded that Bland step out of her car. When Bland refused, Encinia opened her car door and attempted to pull her out. When Encinia’s attempts failed, he pointed his tazer at Bland, and said, “I’m going to light you up.”
While most of the arrest is off-camera, Bland can be heard yelling, insulting Officer Encinia, and asking, “Why won’t you tell me why I am being arrested?” Bland can also be heard screaming, “You’re about to break my wrist. Stop.”
At this point, a female police officer comes on the scene to assist in the arrest and tells Bland to stop resisting. Bland then states to Encinia, “You’re a real man now. You knock my head on the ground. I have epilepsy, you motherfucker.” Encinia replied, “Good.”
When one is confronted with this video, a question is probed: What was the initial cause for the escalation in Bland and Encinia’s encounter? Was it Bland’s failure to put out her cigarette? Officials claim that Bland was arrested for failing to comply with the commands of a police officer. Or, maybe, it was because Encinia, in a fit of rage, abused his power and exercised a severe misconduct and violation of a woman’s rights who was merely pulled over for a traffic violation and should have never been asked to step out of her car.
On July 16, The Texas Department of Public Safety identified violations of the department’s procedures regarding traffic stops and the department’s courtesy policy. This wouldn’t be the first time that Encinia acted unprofessionally on the job. According to documents obtained by the Associated Press, Encinia had been warned about “unprofessional conduct” in 2014.
The evaluation stated: “In the future, Trooper Encinia should conduct himself at all times in a manner that will reflect well upon himself, the Department, and the State of Texas. This supervisor will ensure that this is done by meeting periodically with Trooper Encinia.”
It is a truly sobering experience to think that Bland could still be here to today if Encinia was forced to re-undergo extensive training on the proper police conduct and the treatment of the citizens that he vowed to protect. However, this problem goes beyond the misconduct of Encinia. The entire corrections system set in place in the state of Texas is to blame, as well.
Five months before Bland was arrested, she recorded a video of herself stating that she been suffering from depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to booking documents, Bland had told officials at Walter County Jail that she had attempted suicide within the year by taking pills after “losing a baby.”
In the Waller County Sheriff’s Office press release, it states that county officials were “unable to provide written documents to prove that all jail staff underwent (2) hours of training on a yearly basis by the local mental health authority for that region in accordance with their approved Mental Disabilities/Suicide Prevention Plan.”
The press release also states that Waller County is not completing visual face-to-face observation of all inmates at least once every 60 minutes, as it is required by Minimum Jail Standards. Most importantly, the press release states that while both jailers have received mental health training, it has not been done in the past year by the local health authority.
Waller County’s failure to properly train their staff and to ensure accordance with the Mental Disabilities/Suicide Prevention Plan, their disregard for Bland’s mental health history, along with Encincia’s police misconduct and improper arrest of Bland, is the reason why Bland is not alive today.
Did they physically take her life? That can’t be proved. However, they are responsible.
The arrest, and subsequent and alleged suicide of Sandra Bland highlights a larger issue reoccurring in the United States. Police brutality and misconduct has been repeatedly excused away for decades but has become increasingly more prevalent in recent years.
How can we, as citizens, protect ourselves from the people that are supposed to be protecting us? Do we have to live in fear of saying the wrong thing? Should we just not ask questions? Why must we live in fear of those that are supposed to represent justice and fairness?
The relationship between police officers and the communities they serve have become so compromised that it seems as though they are no longer working together, but rather against each other.
A higher regard for one’s mental health could have been the difference of life and death in the case of Sandra Bland. However, Sandra is not alone. In 2013, 41,149 suicides were reported, making suicide the 10th leading cause of death for Americans, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
We need more meaningful mental health legislation in the United States, and until then, thousands upon thousands of people are losing their lives, remaining suspended in time, never having realized their own potential over something that could have been prevented.
