Sandra Bland's own cellphone video surfaces

[roadmaster]

The one from July 10th 2015 that was shown

[nathanbforrest45]

I am sorry about her death but if she had just put her cigarette out she could have gone on about her business. Instead she had to show her ass.

[Just AnotherPerson]

That is awful. I had never seen this one, and there are so many these days. There are some people who just should not be in charge of the law. He had an ego reaction to what she said, after he asked her a question and she had to pay with her life. That is just awful, I mean awful.

We put people in charge of the law to protect not to harm. We are the ones who put them in power they work for us. We pay their wages. Those who work in the field do so as a service much like the military in a way it is a sacrifice. But when they change from being our protecots to our keepers, then something has gone wrong.

I respect officers and thier service. It is a dangerous job, their life is on the line every day, and they do alot of good. But every now and then one goes rogue. Not to mention the attutude of officers has changed over the last several years. I feel that they are now more militant, and they are less tolerant. They used to have a much more friendly demeanor but now they have a demeanor of authority. It does not feel the same as it did lets say before 2012 or so. Things have changed.

It also used to be that officers would just box it out with a suspect, now in many cases they just shoot, and shoot to kill. It is pretty sad really.

[Mister D]

I am sorry about her death but if she had just put her cigarette out she could have gone on about her business. Instead she had to show her ass.

Why do people behave this way?

[Cotton1]

Plenty more where she came from. You have to draw a line somewhere.

[FindersKeepers]

I am sorry about her death but if she had just put her cigarette out she could have gone on about her business. Instead she had to show her ass.

I think the officer was a bit full of himself, but why in the world did the woman act like an idiot? Why was she not respectful? My parents made sure I knew to be respectful to law enforcement officers and my children were taught the same. What could have been going through her head to make her behave so poorly?

[Standing Wolf]

Sometimes the cop is in the wrong, sometimes it's the civilian, and sometimes the fault is shared.

In this instance, I would assign the lion's share of the culpability to the officer. His first mistake was to insist that she put out her cigarette while she was signing the ticket; he had no reason to do that, but because she failed to comply with that command and argued with him about it, he escalated the situation by making her exit her vehicle. Etc. His screaming at the top of his lungs unnecessarily is probably the best evidence that he was not in control of himself.

Yes, an officer has to take command of any given situation and maintain control over the civilians on scene, BUT - he or she has to also have the ability to exercise good judgment in terms of what he is directing those civilians to do and why. In this case, the cop's ego clearly got in the way of his good sense. He was eventually fired for lying about the circumstances surrounding the stop and what happened afterwards, so the fact that he found it necessary to lie is a good indication that he knew, at some point, that he had messed up.

[Private Pickle]

Sometimes the cop is in the wrong, sometimes it's the civilian, and sometimes the fault is shared.

In this instance, I would assign the lion's share of the culpability to the officer. His first mistake was to insist that she put out her cigarette while she was signing the ticket; he had no reason to do that, but because she failed to comply with that command and argued with him about it, he escalated the situation by making her exit her vehicle. Etc. His screaming at the top of his lungs unnecessarily is probably the best evidence that he was not in control of himself.

Yes, an officer has to take command of any given situation and maintain control over the civilians on scene, BUT - he or she has to also have the ability to exercise good judgment in terms of what he is directing those civilians to do and why. In this case, the cop's ego clearly got in the way of his good sense. He was eventually fired for lying about the circumstances surrounding the stop and what happened afterwards, so the fact that he found it necessary to lie is a good indication that he knew, at some point, that he had messed up.

Agreed. Just one more example of a cop that thinks his badge gives him the right to trounce on the Constitutional rights of the citizenry.

With that being said Bland was just another entitled minority with a chip on her shoulder. She wanted a confrontation so she could utilize it to further her agenda of being a victim in America. People like her seek out these types of events and propagate them.

[FindersKeepers]

Sometimes the cop is in the wrong, sometimes it's the civilian, and sometimes the fault is shared.

In this instance, I would assign the lion's share of the culpability to the officer. His first mistake was to insist that she put out her cigarette while she was signing the ticket; he had no reason to do that, but because she failed to comply with that command and argued with him about it, he escalated the situation by making her exit her vehicle. Etc. His screaming at the top of his lungs unnecessarily is probably the best evidence that he was not in control of himself.

Yes, an officer has to take command of any given situation and maintain control over the civilians on scene, BUT - he or she has to also have the ability to exercise good judgment in terms of what he is directing those civilians to do and why. In this case, the cop's ego clearly got in the way of his good sense. He was eventually fired for lying about the circumstances surrounding the stop and what happened afterwards, so the fact that he found it necessary to lie is a good indication that he knew, at some point, that he had messed up.

I think this is true. If an officer can't handle a traffic stop -- he ought not be an officer. I'm always stunned, however, to see civilians act so rudely to law enforcement. I think it was over the top for him to tell her to put out her smoke, but I would have complied immediately.

[FindersKeepers]

Agreed. Just one more example of a cop that thinks his badge gives him the right to trounce on the Constitutional rights of the citizenry.

With that being said Bland was just another entitled minority with a chip on her shoulder. She wanted a confrontation so she could utilize it to further her agenda of being a victim in America. People like her seek out these types of events and propagate them.

This is also true. If I remember correctly, this happened during a time when officers were purposefully being targeted in the media, which I think might have given some people a sense of defiance. I remember officers (good officers) feeling letdown by the media and by the government at large.

I think things have mellowed out some -- I hope so.