tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post4710765692288994642..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: A #SandraBlandAct that omits the #SandraBland story?Gritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-71301168252576113632017-06-03T08:28:14.146-05:002017-06-03T08:28:14.146-05:00Exactly Anonymous. Texas needs more affordable (ke...Exactly Anonymous. Texas needs more affordable (keyword) mental health and substance abuse treatment. The system has been absolutely gutted. If you have 5k to 6k just lying around to spend each month there is great help available. Yes, there are free programs, but they are bureaucratically very difficult to get into. Jumping through hoops and obtaining a stack of various documents is quite the challenge when in the midst of a substance abuse or mental health crisis. There is emergency detention. That lasts just long enough to "ensure" you aren't an immediate threat to yourself or others. It isn't really treatment.D007https://www.blogger.com/profile/01078626952372404027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-815438475437107032017-05-31T08:00:28.030-05:002017-05-31T08:00:28.030-05:00The first bullet point is something that is alread...The first bullet point is something that is already required. The problem? Where are these treatment centers? Few communities in Texas have these. Even fewer (maybe none?) have the adequate number of beds needed on a daily basis. Many times, beat cops are forced to take people in crisis to nearest hospital/ER. In my experience, these facilities wait for the cops to be out of sight and then they cut the person in crisis loose without any medical records.<br /><br />If the Lege is going to push another bill requiring the police to get people mental health treatment, then the Lege also needs to fork over the money to expand mental health treatment services in this state. Otherwise, we'll be doing what we've done since the '60s: making the county jail our mental health treatment center. And we all know how well that has worked out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-33155004176834001082017-05-30T10:02:37.656-05:002017-05-30T10:02:37.656-05:00Please be aware that the settlement that Waller Co...Please be aware that the settlement that Waller County and the Bland family reached really cost Waller County nothing other than insurance premiums. The full amount outside the normal deduction was paid thru insurance. Nothing, absolutely nothing, has changed in Waller county. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-24491245031284481232017-05-29T21:27:26.536-05:002017-05-29T21:27:26.536-05:00@Sharon Cooper, this is Scott Henson, the blog own...@Sharon Cooper, this is Scott Henson, the blog owner. You may reach me at gritsforbreakfast@gmail.com. Looking forward to hearing from you.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-4118165915854612622017-05-29T19:31:33.745-05:002017-05-29T19:31:33.745-05:00Texas has 6 of the 15 fastest growing cities in th...Texas has 6 of the 15 fastest growing cities in the US according to AOL. Do these people have any idea what they're getting into with this ledge at the helm? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-63836002045892679712017-05-29T19:10:16.313-05:002017-05-29T19:10:16.313-05:00What's up with all that threatening that occur...What's up with all that threatening that occurred on the floor today? I'm sorry, but if I or any other common Joe threatened to shoot a fellow congress man - in the head - I'd be arrested immediately. What gives here? Is that the "special privilege" these guys get? DPS was there yet they didn't arrest anyone. Let's level the playing field folks??? Wow...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-32076048077660293392017-05-29T17:51:36.848-05:002017-05-29T17:51:36.848-05:00Cathy, laws already exist regarding false arrest a...Cathy, laws already exist regarding false arrest and making false reports. The former trooper was indicted, fired, and will be tried in court. I watched the booking video and read the questionnaire they gave Sandra, both had indicators of mental health struggles which is why Waller County ended up paying so much.<br /><br />As for shooting of unarmed people, I'm with Bruce. Too many policing agencies want to accept any warm bodies that apply and meet the bare minimum qualifications. Then they refuse to train them because it costs too much on the front end. The training they do get is often classroom training that does nothing to properly vet candidates for the positions or teach them the difference between a perceived threat and an actual threat, we all know how grand juries buy into the perception is the same idea. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-69727228715094817892017-05-29T14:16:27.186-05:002017-05-29T14:16:27.186-05:00About time! No more political appointees!
511.00...About time! No more political appointees!<br /><br /> 511.00905. JAIL ADMINISTRATOR POSITION; EXAMINATION <br /> <br />REQUIRED. (a) The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement shall <br /> <br />develop and the commission shall approve an examination for a <br /> <br />person assigned to the jail administrator position overseeing a <br /> <br />county jail.<br /> <br /> (b) The commission shall adopt rules requiring a person, <br /> <br />other than a sheriff, assigned to the jail administrator position <br /> <br />overseeing a county jail to pass the examination not later than the <br /> <br />180th day after the date the person is assigned to that position. <br /> <br />The rules must provide that a person who fails the examination may <br /> <br />be immediately removed from the position and may not be reinstated <br /> <br />until the person passes the examination.<br /> <br /> (c) The sheriff of a county shall perform the duties of the <br /> <br />jail administrator position at any time there is not a person <br /> <br />available who satisfies the examination requirements of this <br /> <br />section.<br /> <br /> (d) A person other than a sheriff may not serve in the jail <br /> <br />administrator position of a county jail unless the person satisfies <br /> <br />the examination requirement of this section.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-2109701844817237892017-05-29T14:04:29.000-05:002017-05-29T14:04:29.000-05:00Almost anything from the Texas legislature is a vi...Almost anything from the Texas legislature is a victory these days. Perhaps this can serve as the camel's nose under the tent. More troubling to me is the de facto immunity granted law enforcement officers to shoot and kill unarmed citizens. Any reform addressing this must include adequately training law enforcement officers in the use of deadly force. So much killing by law enforcement officers appears to be limited to authoritarian regimes and the United States.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11039681548397392556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-89294704310779805582017-05-29T11:31:35.184-05:002017-05-29T11:31:35.184-05:00Where's the part about stopping false arrest a...Where's the part about stopping false arrest and holding officers accountable who falsely arrest? Furthermore, what about holding officers accountable when they ASSAULT someone? The handling of this has always smacked of sexism (on top of racism) for jumping to "mental health" solutions instead of addressing this issue. I'm still not convinced she killed herself; and it is a longstanding victimblaming technique to call someone crazy -- especially if it is a female and a female of color!<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05206017185241911161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-25641815576429418032017-05-29T11:17:12.916-05:002017-05-29T11:17:12.916-05:00GM! My name is Sharon Cooper and I'm one of th...GM! My name is Sharon Cooper and I'm one of the surviving older sisters of Sandra Bland as well as the family spokesperson. I'd love to connect with someone from the blog about the family's perspective on the Sandra Bland Act as it's our lived experience. Thanks in advance for your consideration!Sharon Cooperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10674687254823927977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-17143571664534874732017-05-28T17:55:35.114-05:002017-05-28T17:55:35.114-05:00Sandra Bland killed herself so focusing the bill o...Sandra Bland killed herself so focusing the bill on mental health training seems like a wise idea. Had the jailers accepted Bland's own admissions of mental health issues during their booking interview, they might have kept a closer eye on her. But given she was arrested for assaulting the trooper, no amount of spin is going to hide the fact that such an act will always be an arrestable offense, whether you believe it happened or not since it was off camera doesn't matter because the trooper doesn't cart her immediately to trial.<br /><br />On another note, some of the larger policing agencies already include "warnings" in their racial profiling data and they have done so for years. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com