STATE REP. TO INTRODUCE BILL INSPIRED BY SANDRA BLAND

  

A state representative is planning on introducing a new bill inspired by the death of Sandra Bland when the Texas Legislature meets next year.

State Rep. Garnet Coleman, a Democrat who represents House District 147, says the Sandra Bland Act aims on reforming how officials handle investigations. Coleman says his proposal would change racial profiling- prohibiting police from stopping black drivers on minor grounds. Furthermore, it would prohibit jailing a person for a minor traffic violations.

Coleman says it would also mandate de-escalation training for state troopers, which is something DPS officials have said is already in place.

The bill would also introduce changes in rural jails across the state. The changes, which have been implemented in the Waller County Jail since Bland’s death, include swipe cards that would prohibit guards from falsifying cell checks and the creation of a new comprehensive jail intake form.

This comes as Geneva Reed-Veal, Sandra Bland’s mother, recently received $1.9 million from a federal wrongful death settlement with Waller County and state officials.

28-year-old Bland was stopped by a Department of Public Safety Trooper in Waller County in July of 2015. The stop escalated to Bland’s arrest. Three days later, she was found dead in her jail cell in Hempstead. Her death was ruled a suicide.