Trooper had past conduct warning
Officer previously received counseling, was disciplined for unprofessionalism
The Texas Department of Public Safety trooper who arrested Sandra Bland after a traffic stop in Prairie View on July 10 had been disciplined previously for misconduct, agency records show.
Brian Encinia, 30, who has been with DPS a little more than a year, was warned about being unprofessional as a probationary trooper in November 2014.
“Trooper Encinia was given a written counseling for unprofessional conduct … for an incident that occurred at a school in Austin,” DPS officials wrote in a performance evaluation a month or two after the incident. “In the future, Trooper Encinia should conduct himself at all times in a manner that will reflect well on himself, the Department, and the state of Texas.”
The incident is the only disciplinary action noted in about 80 pages of records that DPS released Friday night. Encinia’s performance otherwise received “competent” marks, the middle of the five options on the grading metric.
A supervisor wrote that he would “meet periodically” to ensure Encinia met the obligations expected of the department.
The records, which include Encinia’s job application and
personnel file, provide some additional details about his background before joining DPS last year.
According to the records, he studied at Texas A&M University, graduating in 2008. He previously had worked as an “ingredient processing supervisor” at Blue Bell and served as a volunteer firefighter at the Brenham Volunteer Fire Department for four years, rising to the rank of district fire chief, according to his résumé. Widespread scrutiny
In his stop of Bland in Prairie View — originally for an improper lane change — a confrontation occurred after Encinia asked Bland to put out her cigarette and she refused. Dash-cam footage that captured portions of the incident showed Encinia threatening Bland with a Taser and repeatedly ordering her to get out of her car. He eventually arrested her on a charge of assaulting a public servant; Encinia said she had kicked him during the arrest.
Bland, 28, died three days later in Waller County Jail. Authorities ruled the death a suicide by hanging. The incident sparked international outrage and protests and vigils across the country, and brought widespread scrutiny to the Waller County Sheriff’s Office and its jail, particularly after authorities said that Bland had told two separate jailers during her intake at the jail that she had previously tried to commit suicide.
After DPS released footage of Encinia’s interaction with Bland, agency officials said they were reviewing his actions and had placed him on administrative duties for violating department procedures and the agency’s courtesy policy. ‘It just doesn’t compute’
The incident — and Bland’s subsequent death in jail — has led lawmakers to hold hearings on the state’s jail standards and on interactions between the public and police.
“How can someone get pulled over for not signaling and end up dead in three days? It just doesn’t compute,” Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, said in a hearing on Thursday.
The Waller County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Rangers and the FBI are all investigating the incidents that led up to Bland’s death in jail.
“No police officer wants to find themselves in that situation, where the results ended that way,” said DPS Highway Patrol Sgt. Gary Chandler, president of the DPS Officer’s Association, which represents DPS’ troopers, rangers and special agents. “You don’t want to get hurt, you want to go home at the end of the day, but you also think the people you stop on side of road could be someone’s mom or daughter and you want them to be treated fairly and nicely and professionally.”
Chandler declined to comment about the specifics of Encinia’s actions.
“We’re going to have to wait until the final investigation is completed,” he said.
DPS has not yet responded to requests for more information.