Posted on 01/06/2016 6:48:53 PM PST by boxcar4444
A Texas state trooper who arrested Sandra Bland after a contentious traffic stop last summer was fired Wednesday after being charged with perjury for allegedly lying about his confrontation with the black woman who died three days later in jail. Trooper Brian Encinia claimed in an affidavit that Bland was "combative and uncooperative" after he pulled her over and ordered her out of her car. The grand jury identified that affidavit in charging Encinia with perjury, special prosecutor Shawn McDonald said Wednesday night. Hours after the indictment, the Texas Department of Public Safety said it would "begin termination proceedings" against Encinia, who has been paid desk duty since Bland was found dead in her cell. Bland's arrest and death — which authorities ruled a suicide — provoked national outrage and drew the attention of the Black Lives Matter movement. P
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Best to avoid, or completely cooperate at the time. Legal stuff to happen later (at great expense in $s and time to YOU).
That alone would have me leaning in favor of the officer.
I generally take the cops side when there is an argument with a Black suspect but in this particular case I think the trooper was in the wrong.
Now she could have handled it much more politely but her point was still valid. He had no business arresting her.
While some cops got unfairly vilified (Darren Wilson), this cop was a grade-A a-hole in that video, and frankly had no business escalating the situation when he did.
I didn’t think she handled it badly. He kept asking her if she was upset. Of course she was upset. No one is happy when they are pulled over by a police officer. He totally escalated it. Why? I don’t know. Maybe to meet a quota. I also think he clearly lied. He said he pulled her out of the car to arrest her but then said it was because she did not cooperate while getting out of the car. I guess he thought not putting her cigarette out was worth arresting her over. I hardly see how swinging her elbows and kicking him in the shin with nothing more than sandals, while wearing a long skirt, deserved an assault charge. What a ninny. She clearly felt like he was assaulting her so she reacted.
Posting without reading again, eh?
Necessary they are, but still best to avoid at almost any cost.
He did escalate the situation, but was very polite at first. He was supposedly only going to give her a warning ticket, so should have told her that right off. On the other hand, I think he may have gotten a whiff of pot or something and was looking for some reaction so he could have an excuse to search her car.
This woman was mentally unstable. It is clear in how she interacted with the officer at every point. It is clear because she committed suicide.
It is tragic that she could not find the help he needed. It is tragic that she was part of groups like Black Lives Matter which promote the sort of rebellion this woman displayed.
You can see the whole dashcam video on youtube. On it you will find what a normal stop looks like — the one just before Sandra Bland. In it everything goes simply and smoothly. It would have been the same with Bland if she just hadn’t been determined to pick a fight with the officer.
The officer certainly had every reason to be concerned with her demeanor and attitude before pulling back into traffic. The fact that she was capable of coming completely unhinged and out of control with her hair trigger temper shows she could have easily been a danger to herself and others if he had just waved her on. If it was not him pulling her over for her traffic infraction, she could have just as easily have been set off by someone who got in her way.
Bland was a “civil rights activist” in Chicago, and a part of the Black Lives Matter movement. She had at least ten previous encounters with police in Illinois and Texas, and owed $7,579 in fines. She had at least one DUI conviction.
This woman was a dangerous driver, and the officer here had the right instincts about her. While I am sad for her tragic end, she was a threat to herself and others.
“He said he pulled her out of the car to arrest her but then said it was because she did not cooperate while getting out of the car. “
No. He told her she was under arrest when she refused to cooperate by getting out of the car as he instructed her to. This happened around the ten minute mark on the unedited video.
He was trying to clarify on the phone whether she should be charged with resisting arrest or assault. He pointed out that she was already detained and did not say “you are under arrest” BEFORE the physical altercation began.
He also explained the reason for having her step out and go to the sidewalk was because of safety concerns with traffic passing. This is at the 30 minute mark on the video. This would not have been necessary if she would have just cooperated.
This woman had a long history of traffic and police problems. In this case, she would have been on her way with a simple warning if she had just cooperated.
The grand jury was wrong to allow the perjury charge. I personally hope he beats it. This woman was a criminal. Police officers have dangerous jobs, and women like this make it more dangerous.
It’s OK. Waco PD will have some vacancies soon. He’d fit right in.
“GET THE FU*K BACK INTO YOUR VEHICLE, NOW!”
Since F bombing a command is so much more effective. I think police could improve their image - if they were to improve their language. Stop the profanity when issuing commands.
I have heard that a well armed society is a polite society.
A well spoken society is a polite society also.
You post should be discussed in every police academy in the nation. But of course it won’t.
As a side note, every younger cop I knew thirty years ago looked something like Andy Taylor. They might not have acted like Sheriff Andy, but they looked like him. Now they all look like bodybuilders. Not a good thing.
That's a very good point. And there's a world of difference between these two commands: "driver's license and proof of insurance" and "driver's license and proof of insurance, please".
Has Black Lives Matter ever been on the right side of an issue?
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