DPS Trooper and Ms. Sandra Bland; A Police Supervisor's Take

By now many of you have either seen the video or watched a news story regarding the arrest and eventual death of Ms. Sandra Bland in Waller County, Texas.  I am sure that most have already formed an opinion.  Well, as a police supervisor, I too have an opinion.

For those of you that haven't seen the entire video, here it is. 

Now, let me state this up front.  The trooper added to the problem himself by not deescalating the situation from the start.  But, was he justified in making his arrest?  Yes he was.  The law requires mere probable cause to make an arrest.  In this case, Ms. Bland committed a traffic violation that could have resulted in her receiving a warning, a citation, or an arrest.  The trooper states later on that he merely was issuing Ms. Bland a warning.  Unfortunately, he did not mention that when he approached her.

The trooper immediately noticed that Ms. Bland was "irritated" over being stopped in the first place.  This has set the trooper’s mindset that he may have a problem with her later on.  By the way, I am only speculating considering how this entire encounter unfolded.  After the trooper receives Ms. Bland's identification, he moves to his patrol car to complete his warning citation and check Ms. Bland for wants or warrants.  It is his second encounter with Ms. Bland that suddenly takes a different turn.

The trooper tells Ms. Bland that she seems "irritated," once again correctly identifying her emotion.  The trooper could have, and should have, immediately deescalated this situation by telling her she was only receiving a warning.  He further could have simply ignored her emotional state and continued to do his job.  Instead, he decided, for whatever reason, that Ms. Bland was going to jail.  I believe this is why he has decided she needed to step out of the vehicle.  He is also annoyed by the fact she is smoking in her car in front of him.  To him, I am guessing this is disrespectful.  As such, the trooper will not be disrespected.

Once Ms. Bland decided she was not going to get out of her car, she continued to escalate the situation even further.  Her attitude has made this matter worse.  The trooper then gives her several verbal commands to exit the vehicle.  He is legal in doing this, by the way.  It is not until the trooper draws his taser and tells Ms. Bland, "I will light you up" that she decides to get out of the car.  Now Ms. Bland is in full view of the dash camera and she is extremely verbal and still noncompliant with the trooper's lawful orders.  The two then move off camera and we only have the audio to go from.  The trooper has called for back up and one officer, a black female, arrives to assist him.  The struggle that ensues is not visible from the camera.  It also sounds as if another person has walked up on the scene that is most likely a citizen.  I state this because I hear the trooper tell someone to back off and leave.  I doubt that he is saying that to an officer.  I also do not know if that person was ever identified.  My guess is the person is indeed now known to law enforcement and has provided a statement.

Once Ms. Bland is now in custody and placed in a patrol car, the trooper approaches Ms. Bland's vehicle and is now back in view of the dash camera.  The trooper tells the first arriving officer that Ms. Bland kicked him.  At that time, the officer points to the area on the trooper's leg where Ms. Bland allegedly kicked him.  At this point, I believe resisting arrest was an appropriate charge.

Some time during the arrest, Ms. Bland states that she has epilepsy.  I have no reason to believe that is an untrue statement.  But, I wonder if the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences knew that information prior to conducting the autopsy.  It would be interesting to know for several reasons.  None of them will be discussed here, however.

Two officers search Ms. Bland's car and it does not appear as if any contraband or evidence of any other crime was recovered.  As a wrecker driver pulls up to the scene, the trooper can be heard talking to someone on the phone.  I am guessing he is talking to his supervisor.  He tells the person on the other end of the phone that he was trying to calm her down.  I don't believe his tactics helped.  In fact, I think his tactics made the entire situation worse.  Ms. Bland does request to be seen by EMS prior to being transported to jail.  She is treated at the scene and later transported to the jail.

Because I don't have the police report, there is no way I can determine exactly what the trooper wrote in his report.  But, I will assume that he knew he was recorded, so the incident should have been accurately portrayed in his report.

Now, any police officer that has worked traffic is likely to have an encounter like this one.  In fact, I believe it happens much more than we know.  This trooper is obviously a young trooper and has not been on the streets very long.  I don't say this to demean or disrespect the trooper; I am just pointing that out to make a point.  Officers who have several years on the streets learn to deescalate these situations much quicker.  They realize early on that their own attitudes and demeanor can be interpreted as aggressive or disrespectful as well.  I am also certain that after reviewing this video, his supervisors believe the trooper did not act in accordance with their training or policy regarding de-escalation tactics.  I submit that he needs additional training in this area.  I think relieving him of duty was a knee jerk reaction intended to calm down the public after Ms. Bland's death in the jail.  I do not see where any of this incident contributed to Ms. Bland's death.  Again, I am merely basing this interview on nothing more than the video and conversations heard on the video.

The trooper, although he contributed to this incident, did not act in a way inconsistent with what another officer would have done given the same or similar circumstances and the same time on the streets as he.  I think once the trooper is retrained, he should receive whatever discipline his department hands out and get back to work.

One thing not discussed in any of the news stories I have seen or read discusses what I have labeled the "Ferguson Affect."  This nonsense of "hands up don't shoot" has found its way into every aspect of policing.  Police are bad.  White police are racist and worse.  Policing is a very difficult job.  This traffic stop illustrates it clearly.

Ms. Bland, had she simply kept her cool, could have moved on down the road and filed a complaint against the trooper later on.  She could also have demanded a supervisor come to the scene.  People will demand to speak to a supervisor if their phone bills are messed up, or if their television signal is weak, or if they're overcharged in the local super market.  But, they seem to forget all about that when they feel they've been unjustly handled at a police scene.  Ms. Bland did not have any right to resist her arrest.  Period.

The DPS trooper should have immediately deescalated the scene by empathizing with Ms. Bland about her irritation with the traffic stop.  I guess the trooper has had little experience being stopped on traffic.  I understand the position of both Ms. Bland and the trooper.  Who is not irritated when the police stop them?  I get irritated every time.  But, I also understand the trooper's side as I have conducted hundreds of traffic stops over the years.  Two wrongs don't make a right.