Sandra Bland Act for police reform discussed in Texas House

HOUSTON – The Sandra Bland Act was discussed by state representatives in the Texas House on Tuesday.

The mother of Bland, a black woman whose death in a Texas jail following a confrontational traffic stop in 2015, is pushing for sweeping police reforms in her daughter's name.

Geneva Reed-Veal on Tuesday testified to Texas lawmakers for the first time since the death of her daughter became a flashpoint in the Black Lives Matter movement. The Sandra Bland Act would revamp racial profiling laws and officer training.

Bland was found dead in a jail three days after being stopped by a white state trooper for not signaling a lane change. Her death was ruled a suicide.

Her mother, who is from Illinois, says reforms are needed to show people who say "Texas is the most awful state."

Influential police groups remain opposed to key provisions of the bill.