A proposed legislative change in Texas, a tribute to the suicide of a black woman who was an alleged victim of police brutality, is aiming to shake up police procedures such as racial profiling laws and training of officers. However the passage of the bill is still an uphill task as one police group on Thursday called it misguided, while another said it is financially problematic.

The “Sandra Bland Act” is named after a 28-year-old black woman who committed suicide in a jail outside Houston on July 13, 2015, three days after being arrested due to a heated altercation with a white police officer who pulled her over for not signaling a lane change. A dashcam video of the incident recorded the officer, Brian Encinia, threatening to “light up” Bland with a stun gun.

In the aftermath of her death and ensuing public protests and backlash, the Bland family settled for a $1.8 million wrongful death lawsuit last year with Waller County and the state, and the services of the officer in question were suspended. However, her death raised questions about police procedures such as racial profiling and their preparedness in dealing with people with mental health conditions.

This bill, drafted by Democratic Rep. Garnet Coleman, calls for raising the burden of proof needed to conduct stop and frisk searches and also doubles the amount of police training in methods of de-escalating confrontations.

"It led to a death that didn't have to occur," Coleman, who chairs the House County Affairs Committee, told the Texas tribune during a news conference to announce the bill's filing.

But the bill is likely to face stiff resistance from Republicans who are expected to fight it tooth and nail because of their pledge to enhance police protections. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, for instance, referenced the Dallas police shooting of 2016, where five Dallas police officers were shot dead by a sniper last summer as his reason to prioritize enhancing police protections.

Similarly, law enforcement authorities are not very enthusiastic about the bill. Although the Seattle Times reports that the Sheriff’s Association of Texas expressed support of the bill, its legislative director — A.J. Lauderback — questioned whether taxpayers would pay for this bill.

Even the executive director of the Texas Municipal Police Association, Kevin Lawrence, criticized the bill and challenged one portion of it by arguing that racial profiling can be identified through “evidence-based data analysis.”

“All of that is just handcuffing law enforcement. It would just make it impossible for cops to go out there and protect the public,” Lawrence said.

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