AUSTIN, Texas —A Texas grand jury that declined to indict anyone over the jailhouse death of Sandra Bland could still charge the trooper who shouted “I will light you up!” during a traffic stop resulting in her arrest, a move that would focus attention on a state police force that experts say has lagged behind widely accepted U.S. law enforcement practices to head off misconduct.
A grand jury on Monday decided that no felony crime was committed by sheriff’s officers or jailers in the death of the 28-year-old black woman from Chicago. Authorities say Bland hanged herself in jail with a plastic garbage bag three days after Trooper Brian Encinia pulled her over for not signaling a lane change.
Encinia, who is white, has been on paid desk duty since the confrontation recorded on dash-cam video heightened national concern about police treatment of African-Americans. Critics including Bland’s family wondered why a routine traffic stop escalated into an altercation that led to Encinia brandishing a stun gun and making the threat to light her up.
The stop also has invited scrutiny of the Texas Department of Public Safety that oversees state police. Records obtained by The Associated Press show at least six formal complaints have been found valid since the beginning of 2012 against members of the nearly 4,000-strong force for violating traffic stop procedures — the kind of incidents like the one involving Encinia and Bland. Two troopers received written reprimands, and the others received suspensions ranging from one to 30 days without pay.
But the department cannot put a number on informal accusations raised against troopers — such as rudeness or attitude — in which citizens don’t sign their names to affidavits that trigger formal investigations. Law enforcement watchdogs said that is a glaring departure from most major U.S. police departments that keep tally of all citizen contacts, even for accusations that are considered minor or quickly proved baseless upon reviewing patrol-car video.
Department policy allows such complaints to be handled at the local level, through supervisors, in what it calls “the informal resolution of citizen concerns.”
If cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the grand jury, Encinia would still face internal discipline. McCraw has acknowledged that Encinia violated routine practices for conduct during a traffic stop.
