Texas lawmakers urged to require video surveillance of all jail cells statewide following death of Sandra Bland
By DARRYL JOHNSON
The tragic death of Sandra Bland on Monday, July 13, 2o15, while confined in the Waller County Jail, requires decisive and landmark action by the Texas Legislature to guarantee that every jail cell in Texas is being monitored by a video surveillance system.
Bland, 28, a graduate of Prairie View A&M who had come back after accepting a new job at her alma mater, was reportedly alone in a Waller County Jail cell, out-of-sight of a nearby county jail video camera, when she allegedly committed suicide by hanging.
The local, state, national, and international outrage over the incredible circumstances surrounding the passing of Sandra Bland demands action that will protect any person, regardless of their background, from being hurt or losing their life while in custody.
I am proposing legislation, to be known as “The Sandra Bland Justice for All Act”, be filed when the Texas Legislature begins its regular session in January 2016.
But there is much we can do in the meantime.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of Houston and Speaker of the House Joe Straus of San Antonio should immediately appoint a joint Senate-House legislative committee to come up with ways to require all jails in Texas to maintain an effective video monitoring system so that no one who is being held in a cell is hidden from the protective and unbiased view of a video camera.
This special legislative committee should also develop sources of revenue to pay for such a video monitoring system. After all, how many millions of dollars have public jails in Texas lost to lawsuits stemming from injuries and deaths of individuals in police custody?
Earlier this month, Sandra Bland’s mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against two guards at the Waller County Jail, among other individuals and entities, including the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The mandatory use of comprehensive video surveillance monitoring systems in jails in Texas – where no one is out of sight of a camera – is one of the major goals of “The Sandra Bland Justice for All Act”.
This idea is neither new or radical.
But more than ever, it is needed.
In 2003, Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, and then-Rep. Ismael “Kino” Flores, D-Mission, carried House Bill 1660, which proposed requiring that each county jail in Texas “must install and operate a video camera surveillance system that records video images in each jail corridor, solitary confinement cell, suicide watch cell, kitchen, and dining area or other common area.”
According to the bill analysis, prepared by both lawmakers, “a high level of surveillance cameras is necessary within these facilities to ensure that the inmates, depending upon their incarceration program, are maintained in their areas, along with guaranteeing the security of the guards and the inmates.”
But House Bill 1660 faced concerns that costs would be prohibitive for many jails in Texas, and its original and far-reaching intention was unfortunately not achieved.
The proposed Senate-House legislative committee must bring back the original vision of Sen. Hinojosa and Rep. Flores, and make it happen, beginning through public hearings statewide, starting first here in Prairie View.
In light of the terrible controversy and negative worldwide image of Texas that is resulting from this sorrow, now is the time to show the world that we in Waller County will help lead the way on what would be a major improvement of our state’s criminal justice system.
More important, it is right and just that Sandra Bland, whose life calling courageously revolved around battling injustice, should have her honorable name, through “The Sandra Bland Justice for All Act”, be forever linked to protecting the innocent.
Darryl Johnson, a legislative consultant with more than 35 years experience in the Texas Legislature, resides in Prairie View. David A. Díaz, a legislative and news media consultant based in McAllen, contributed to this article.
