Sandra Bland's Mother Pushes For Police Reform Bill In Texas

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Sandra Bland's mother is fighting for police reform in Texas.

Geneva Reed-Veal, Sandra's mother, returned to Texas to speak in support of the "Sandra Bland Act," a bill that, if passed, would revamp racial profiling laws, officer training and other police accountability measures.

"I need this bill to move forward so that it will prove to people who say that Texas is the most awful state to live in. And to me that's true, because Texas is a place of pain for me," Reed-Veal, said. "So I need you to think about what you have the power and ability to do today."

She also added that the legislation was not anti-police saying, "I don't hate police. I hate the fact that we do not understand that this has been going on for too long by those who have been charged to serve and protect us."

Back in 2015, Sandra was stopped for failing to signal a lane change in Waller County, while she was in Texas from her home in Naperville, Illinois to interview for a job at Prairie View A&M University. She graduated from the historically black college in 2009.

Brian Encina, the state trooper that pulled her over planned on giving her a written warning, but the Department of Public Safety said he changed his mind when Sandra became uncooperative and argumentative. She was arrested and taken to the Hempstead jail, which is 60 miles outside of Houston.

While incarcerated, Sandra was found dead inside of her cell, where her death was ruled a suicide by hanging. Family and friends suspected that Sandra was murdered in jail, maintaining that she wouldn't kill herself. The death was also an indication of the jail's negligence, with guards violating policies by failing to do timely checks on inmates.

Sandra's passing led to an outcry across the country, with the Black Lives Matter movement protesting both her arrest and death, while the Twitter hashtag "If I Die In Police Custody" served as another means of protest.

Last year, Sandra's family reached a $1.9 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit, with the Texas Department of Public Safety paying $100,000, while the Waller County jail will take up the bulk of the sum with $1.8 million.