Texas law enforcement officials won’t confirm that nearly 4,000 troopers will receive de-escalation training despite an attorney for Sandra Bland’s family saying the state made that deal as part of a $1.9 million wrongful-death settlement.
A spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety said Tuesday the agency hasn’t settled with the family of the 28-year-old black woman who died in jail following a confrontational traffic stop in 2015.
Tom Rhodes, an attorney for the Bland family, says DPS acknowledged during settlement talks that the agency had no systematic training for de-escalation but agreed to put measures in place.
Rhodes says the settlement, however, didn’t spell out what that training must entail.
DPS responded with a statement saying that troopers already received 76 hours of training to properly de-escalate situations.