Sandra Bland Arrest/Suicide.

[Rageaholic]

It's possible that it's being spun that if the officer hadn't behaved in the manner in which he did, the woman wouldn't have killed herself.

So they're associating the officer arresting her and such (instead of letting her off with a warning) with her killing herself.

It's a stretch, but that's the only thing I can think of.

Of course, it could be an "automatic" assumption, because you know, "Officer Whitey".

Actually, that's a lot more plausible than you'd think. This cop arrested her under false pretenses and had intended to have her in custody for at least 3 days. She probably had no contact with a lawyer, no indication that she'd ever get out, and heck, did she even get her one phone call?

I wonder if she hadn't taken her life, if she'd still be sitting in the jail cell. There has been a few cases where people have been arrested and forgotten about for up to 3 years.

[TheHuckster]

No matter what, unless she was being formally charged with a crime, there's no reason to hold her for three days. She should have been released before then, not that she should have been arrested in the first place.

I agree that she should have obliged to put out her cigarette, simply out of politeness, but it shouldn't have resulted in an arrest if she refused. Such a request is not unreasonable on the part of the officer It's simply a matter of good manners, and doesn't even have to do with whether it's a police officer or not. The officer asked her politely, and I'm quite surprised at how quickly it escalated after she refused.

[Shangri-laschild]

People and the press need to stop making this out to be a death by cop.

If she did tell them about the depression and suicide issues though, then they screwed up. I still wouldn't call it death by cop but it's definitely negligence on the part of the jail.

[Jetfire]

I admittedly haven't looked much into this example, but looking at the cigarette issue, asking to put it out (or at least put it down) is a very reasonable request.

It certainly is a control issue, but the cop normally wants to keep the situation under control and to keep the variables minimized. That's why they want to keep your hands visible and no sudden movements. A cigarette is a variable, and potentially a (relatively minor) dangerous one. It could cause burns to the cop or the person who was pulled over. It could also be used as a distraction, either by blowing smoke at the cop or just throwing it at the cop. (Most times when pulled over, the cops want NOTHING in your hands unless they ask you to get something).

Granted, most of my experience with Cops comes from watching Real Life shows; but just about every situations I've seen on "Cops" or similar shows, the first things asked if an officer pulls over someone who is smoking is "Please put down/put out the cigarette.", no matter what colour or race or sex is involved.

[mjr]

People and the press need to stop making this out to be a death by cop. She killed herself and no one else aided her in that.

It's possible that it's being spun that if the officer hadn't behaved in the manner in which he did, the woman wouldn't have killed herself.

So they're associating the officer arresting her and such (instead of letting her off with a warning) with her killing herself.

It's a stretch, but that's the only thing I can think of.

Of course, it could be an "automatic" assumption, because you know, "Officer Whitey".

[Greenday]

This really needs to be two separate issues.

While she was being a total dick about not putting the cigarette out (It's freaking common courtesy, just do it), that's not a justifiable reason to arrest her/threaten to taser her. The arrest was pretty bogus.

As for the suicide, it's a suicide by a troubled individual plain and simple. Her friends and family said she would never commit suicide and wasn't depressed. Bland admitted herself that she tried to kill herself last year.

People and the press need to stop making this out to be a death by cop. She killed herself and no one else aided her in that. 7pm she was alive. 8:55pm when she was checked in on again she was dead. No one entered her cell between those two times so suicide is the ONLY possibility. And that report that said they didn't check on her enough is bogus. She's an adult in jail. Adults can be left alone for two hours. What should they have done? Checked in on her every five minutes to offer her juice boxes and cookies? Fluff her pillow for her? It's jail. Other than the cop who arrested her, the rest of the crew working would have no idea at the time that she was in jail for a bogus reason. The only thing they knew at the time was that she was in jail for assaulting an officer.

[Aragarthiel]

"Put out your cigarette" is not a lawful order in any jurisdiction in the US nor can he order her out of the car for Disrespecting his Authoritah(tm).

The first part may be true, although smoke does tend to go right out a car window when it's rolled down, so I can see why the officer would ask her to put it out. I imagine she probably got an attitude about it, since anyone who isn't entitled wouldn't have much of a problem with that request if they can clearly see their smoke wafting into someone else's face.

The second part is where he was wrong, yes. He did fail to de-escalate from there, however, I don't see how she could be 100% innocent here. Not only did she argue with a simple request that anybody could ask of her in any situation, she resisted arrest, which is never a good idea under any circumstance. At that point she actually committed a crime whereas she had not before, so while the original charges may have been dropped, once she resisted she was pretty much guaranteed jail time.

[Racket_Man]

nor can he order her out of the car for Disrespecting his Authoritah(tm).

You are wrong on this point here in the US. while watching the coverage over the last couple of days, there have been legal experts that point out there is a US Supreme Court ruling from the 1977 that does allow a LEO to order you out of the car for any reason mostly for safety reasons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_v._Mimms

http://www.policeone.com/legal/artic...traffic-stops/


Further update from 1997
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/20/us...urt-rules.html

[Gravekeeper]

Several of the stories I've read about this have given me the mindset that she was actually LOOKING to make a scene so the white cop would look like a bad guy. Anyone else get that feeling?

No, quite the opposite. The cop wanted to arrest her and just needed a pretext so he goaded her into something. The arrest was unlawful and he had no legal basis or right to continue the stop. "Put out your cigarette" is not a lawful order in any jurisdiction in the US nor can he order her out of the car for Disrespecting his Authoritah(tm). She might be upset, but she was not wrong. The cop escalated the situation rather than deescalating it and conducted himself in an unprofessional and downright shitty manner. Which, on a side note, violated the state trooper "courtesy protocols". AKA the "don't be a fucking tool and act like a professional" policy. He also violated the department's traffic stop policies.

"Put out your cigarette" also does not warrant pulling a tazer and yelling "I will light you up" or when the person your arresting is upset and tells you they have epilepsy you don't respond with "Good". You also don't try to chase off the only eyewitness ( because they were recording the scene on their cell ). All of which the officer, of course, did not include in his report. In fact, he blatantly lies to his supervisor on the dash cam recording:

“I tried to de-escalate her, and it wasn’t working at all,” Encinia says. “I put the Taser away, I tried talking to her, trying to calm her down, and that was not working. … I’m trying to get her detained … just calm her down, saying’stop throwing your arms,’ what not. She never swung at me, (she was) just flailing, stomping around. And that’s enough, that’s when I detained her.”

He also further lies in his original report by saying he asked her to step out of her vehicle so he could "continue a safety investigation".

Additionally, she told the jail she had a history of depression and had previously attempted suicide. But they did not place her on suicide watch because she "didn't seem depressed". The state investigation also revealed that the guards had violated jail policy by failing to check on inmates properly. ( They are suppose to check on inmates every hour, face to face. Not just ask through the door if she's okay every few hours. )

So no, both sides are not wrong here. She was arrested because a cop was a power tripping dishonest asshole and died because she was held in detention by poorly trained idiots.

[Aragarthiel]

I think this is another case where both parties are wrong. Too many people try to go for either/or, but they both did something wrong. He tried arresting her for not putting out a cigarette (though putting it out really wasn't a huge request, anyone who refuses is being rude in my opinion), and she resisted arrest.

Several of the stories I've read about this have given me the mindset that she was actually LOOKING to make a scene so the white cop would look like a bad guy. Anyone else get that feeling?

[Rageaholic]

This is another police overreaction thread. But I don't see how anyone can justify this cops reaction. A quick recap.

1. Cop pulls woman over for failing to signal.
2. During the traffic stop, the cop asks her to put out her cigarette.
3. She says something to the extent of "why do I have to put my cigarette out?".
4. Cop tells her to get out of the car and that she's under arrest.
5. She refuses. So he goes batshit crazy and starts pummeling her and threatening her with a taser.
6. She's arrested and spends 3 days in jail before taking her own life.

Even if she hadn't committed suicide, the fact that she spent three days in jail over this is ridiculous in it's own right.

Here's a news article describing the story (though it's kind of long and depressing), and here's a video showing the arrest on dashcam.