Page 138 - Malcolm Gladwell - Talking to Strangers

CHAPTER TWELVE

Sandra Bland

1.

At 4:27 on the afternoon of July 10, 2015, Sandra Bland was pulled over by a Texas State Trooper
on FM 1098 in Waller County, Texas. She was driving a silver Hyundai Azera with Illinois license
plates. She was twenty-eight years old and had just come from her hometown of Chicago to start a
new job at Prairie View University. The name of the officer was Brian Encinia. He parked behind
her, then approached Bland’s Hyundai slowly along the curbside, leaning in to speak to her through
the open passenger window.
Brian Encinia: Hello, ma’am. We’re the Texas Highway Patrol, and the reason for your stop is
because you failed to signal the lane change. Do you have your driver’s license and
registration with you? What’s wrong? How long have you been in Texas?
Sandra Bland: Got here just yesterday.
Encinia: OK. Do you have a driver’s license? [Pause.] OK, where you headed to now? Give me
a few minutes.
Encinia takes her license with him to his patrol car. A few minutes pass. Then he returns, this
time approaching Bland’s car from the driver side.
Brian Encinia: OK, ma’am. [Pause.] You OK?

Bland: I’m waiting on you. This is your job. I’m waiting on you. When’re you going to let me
go?
Encinia: I don’t know, you seem very, really irritated.
Bland: I am. I really am. I feel like it’s crap what I’m getting a ticket for. I was getting out of
your way. You were speeding up, tailing me, so I move over and you stop me. So yeah, I am a
little irritated, but that doesn’t stop you from giving me a ticket, so [inaudible] ticket.

In the many postmortems of the Bland case, this is generally identified as Encinia’s first mistake.
Her anger is steadily building. He could have tried to diffuse it. Later, during the investigation, it
emerged that Encinia never intended to give her a ticket—only a warning. He could have told her
that. He didn’t. He could have explained, carefully, why she should have signaled. He could have
smiled, joked with her. Oh, ma’am. You don’t think I’m going to give you a ticket for that, do you?
She has something to say and wants to be heard. He could have acknowledged that he was listening.
Instead he waits a long, uncomfortable beat.

Encinia: Are you done?
That’s the first missed opportunity. Then comes the second.
Bland: You asked me what was wrong, now I told you.
Encinia: OK.
Bland: So now I’m done, yeah.
She’s done. Bland has said her piece. She’s expressed her irritation. Then she takes out a cigarette
and lights it. She’s trying to calm her nerves. In the video we can’t see any of this, because the
camera is on the dashboard of Encinia’s squad car; we see just the back of her car and Encinia,