The Texas Commission on Jail Standards inspects all jails in the state at least once a year, and they also investigate the death of inmates. Inspectors returned to Waller County in July to report on the death of Sandra Bland, a Chicago native who was arrested after a traffic stop and was found hanged after her third day in jail.
“We did issue a notice of non-compliance based upon a records review of the Waller County Jail,” says Brandon Wood, the executive director of Texas Commission on Jail Standards.
Sandra Bland's body was found at 9 a.m. on July 13, and a video released by the sheriff’s office shows that there was no activity in the hallway leading to her cell for about 90 minutes before then.
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An initial autopsy concluded that Bland had committed suicide, but the FBI is investigating the death as a homicide.
Bland's family and friends are skeptical that she would commit suicide. While the details of her death remain unclear, suicide continues to be a problem in the American prison system—40 in every 100,000 prisoners take their lives each year, and more of a third do so in their first several days in incarceration.
This story was based on an interview with PRI's The Takeaway, a public radio program that invites you to be part of the American conversation.