The fact that Sandra Bland's family failed to bail her is a sign of the times, vis-a-vis family breakdown, within the black community.
I'm not sure we can extrapolate that much from a single instance like this. Who knows why they didn't bail her out, but I'm sure they regret it now.
When placed in the context of her history of driving violations, it's not all that surprising that family members would chose to wait it out. The thing that always gets me when I read or hear about someone who racks up all sorts of speeding tickets, DUI's, etc, etc...is that these are only the times that they are CAUGHT...it has to be their normal way of doing things and a sign of a stubborn personality when one refuses to change their driving habits after so many infractions...If the reports are true that she had a suspended license due to non-payment of court fines in Illinois, then she probably was without car insurance as well...so she is stopped, required to show license, registration and proof of insurance...what are the odds she was able to comply?
The cop was appropriately fired. The claimed withheld video was for a civil trial. Lessons to be learned: 1) If you are a cop, don’t be a chickenshit and pull people over for failing to signal. 2) If you do pull someone over for a candy ass reason, expect some pushback and take it. Our community gives law enforcement the authority to makes stops but also requires professional officer conduct at all times. It would be best if the officer looked at the woman he pulled over as a member of our community and by extension, his indirect boss. Obviously the officer is still tasked with enforcing the law and protecting himself, so there is a bit of a line that needs to be navigated. The officer should have attempted to deescalate the situation rather than seemingly demanding respect and then looking for a reason to arrest this woman when he didn’t get it. This video and other videos like it should be used in police offer training to teach appropropiate officer conduct and to show how things can escalate. This video and others like it should be shown to high school students in driver’s education to highlight the importance friendly cooperation with law enforcement and the potential repercussions when one runs into a poorly trained or “bent” officer.