Rep. Garnet Coleman Will Introduce Comprehensive Legislation Next Session in Memory of Sandra Bland

[TexasTowelie]

Rep. Garnet Coleman, Chair of the House Committee on County Affairs, Will Introduce Comprehensive Legislation Next Session in Memory of Sandra Bland

This week the County Affairs Committee, that I chair, met to discuss important issues regarding pretrial diversion for individuals who do not need to be in jail and law enforcement’s racial profiling practices. On Tuesday we met to continue our discussion on the issues surrounding Sandra Bland’s death. Specifically racial disparities during traffic stops within Texas Department of Public Safety, the constitutionality of equal protection claims and concerns that arise from DPS racial disparities, de-escalation tactics, and diversion before booking. We followed up that important conversation by holding a joint hearing with Criminal Jurisprudence Committee to review pretrial service and bonding practices throughout the state. Specifically, we examined factors considered in bail and pre-trial confinement decisions, including the use of risk assessments; assessed the effectiveness and efficiency of different systems regarding cost to local governments and taxpayers, community safety, pretrial absconding rates and rights of the accused.

I want to thank all the members who attended this week’s hearings, as well as the witnesses who came not only from across Texas but the United States to share their expertise on these important issues. Both hearings were successful because the focus has shifted from identifying problems to solving those challenges. This upcoming session I plan on introducing the Sandra Bland Act in memory of Sandra Bland, and to address the bad policies that ultimately lead to her tragic death.

To stop the use of pretext/investigatory stops, the statutory language regarding racial profiling needs to be clarified and strengthened. Additionally, we need to ensure collecting data from traffic stops in which only a verbal warning occurs actually occurs. As it stands now, large amounts of data are being entered incorrectly, coding Hispanics as White. To ensure that Hispanics are properly represented in the data, we need to change the coding processes within DPS to reflect individuals accordingly.

As discussed in great detail last week, stopping pre-textual/investigatory stops will be included in the Sandra Bland Act (click here to read last week’s Coleman Chronicle on pretext/investigatory stops). To stop the use of pretext/investigatory stops, the statutory language regarding racial profiling needs to be clarified and strengthened. Additionally, we need to ensure collecting data from traffic stops in which only a verbal warning occurs actually occurs. As it stands now, large amounts of data are being entered incorrectly, coding Hispanics as White. To ensure that Hispanics are properly represented in the data, we need to change the coding processes within DPS to reflect individuals accordingly. Additionally, we need to reevaluate how DPS is presenting the data to the public and make sure it is done in a way that stands up to academic scrutiny, shows the rate of search by classification, and the rate of successful searches by classification. We also need to ensure that this data is being collected and reported by all law enforcement agencies in Texas, not just DPS.

But collecting data is not enough. The Sandra Bland Act will also put in enforcement mechanisms to provide additional training for law enforcement who need it and punish officers who repeatedly racially profile. Part of that will also include making the DPS complaint system more robust and transparent. To avoid some of these problems altogether the Act will also prevent consent searches, but still allow officers to perform searches through probable cause.

Read more: http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/32379/guest-post-sandra-bland-act-2