Edmonton police 911 operator testifies at human rights hearing into ...

6 days ago

Edmonton Journal

David Schening testified before the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal Wednesday in the case of Marni Panas, who called 911 in 2019 after a friend failed to check in on a date

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Published Sep 11, 2024 • Last updated 25 minutes ago • 4 minute read

Edmonton Police Service Det. David Schening seen in 2014. Schening later retired and joined the EPS emergency communications unit, where he answered a contentious 911 call from trans advocate Marni Panas. The call is the subject of a human rights complaint. Photo by File Photo /Postmedia

An Edmonton Police Service 911 operator whose handling of a call from a trans advocate triggered a human rights complaint says he regrets some assumptions he made during the conversation, but otherwise defended his decision-making.

David Schening testified before the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal Wednesday in the case of Marni Panas, who called 911 in 2019 after a friend failed to check in on a date.

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Schening — a retired vice investigator who returned to EPS as a civilian 911 evaluator — answered the April 11, 2019, call. He made several comments suggesting Panas’s friend — who Panas told him was trans — was a sex worker.

He also repeatedly misgendered Panas, referring to her as “sir.”

Schening said he regrets not asking more questions of Panas before making the sex worker comment. He said the allegation that he behaved improperly has been “eating away” at him, but he largely stood by his initial assumption that there did not appear to be a reason for police to be involved.

“I still stand by that,” he said. “Just because a friend is late in a phone call, it doesn’t mean something bad has happened. This is a premature phone call in my opinion. I still didn’t know what the emergency was or if police needed to be involved in the matter at that time.”

He still does not understand why a trans woman might be hurt by being called “sir.”

“I don’t understand why misgendering is so traumatic,” he said. “I have talked to people on the phone here — just recently, I called this woman ‘sir.’ She corrected me and I apologized and the conversation continued. In this case, all I got was confrontation.”

“I still don’t appreciate why a word is so sensitive to some people.”

Panas told Schening she was the “safety person” for the friend because of the risks of violence against trans people. That also struck him as sex work-related terminology, he said, saying he has never known someone outside the world of sex work to check in on a date.

“When that information is portrayed to me, my thought was, ‘This must be a sex trade worker,'” said Schening, who appeared by Zoom from an office. “That should have been a question (from me), not a statement, but that’s what I was thinking — this must be an escort situation here.”

Panas’s friend is not a sex worker.

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Schening eventually dispatched an officer to check on the friend. Panas told Schening she wished to make a complaint, and erupted when he again called her “sir.”

“I am not a sir!” Panas said.

“Oh! OK, we’re on a phone, buddy!” Schening replied. “How am I supposed to know that? You think I can see you?”

“At the time, the tone of her voice, it sounded like a male,” Schening testified. “There was not an introduction between us … my whole career, I respond to officers as ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am.’ It was a way of trying to show a little respect.”

He later said the things he was called on the street made the terminology he used to address Panas seem like “kindergarten.”

Panas, who was listening to Wednesday’s hearing, asked for a break after Schening made that comment.

“Being referred to as a child in kindergarten, after all this, is very troubling,” she said.

‘Professionalism’ concerns addressed: EPS

Panas previously served on the EPS LGBTQS+ committee and participated in Chief Dale McFee’s formal apology to the LGBTQ community, which took place less than a month after the call.

In her human rights complaint, Panas said she felt Schening dismissed her concerns despite the fact trans people are “at far greater risk of sexual and physical violence” than the population as a whole.

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LGBTQ activist Marni Panas hugs Edmonton Police Service (EPS) Supt. Brad Doucette following a ceremony where EPS formally apologized to the LGBTQ community at Edmonton police headquarters on May 3, 2019. Panas has filed a human rights complaint after what she describes as a “horrifying” 911 call in 2019. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia, file

Concerns about Schening’s “professionalism” were “addressed by his supervisor,” according to a briefing prepared for McFee presented at Wednesday’s hearing. The briefing recommended the police communications unit review its bias awareness training and receive copies of the service’s “inclusive language glossary.”

Schening recalled speaking with a sergeant in the aftermath of the call and thought the issue had been resolved.

“In an email, I think it was said it was concluded, it was dealt with,” he said.

The talk with the sergeant largely dealt with “staying on script” during calls, he added.

Schening’s testimony came after evidence from Enyinnah Okere, a senior executive in McFee’s office who “spearheaded” the apology to the LGTBQ community. He said McFee hired him from his role with the Saskatchewan government to address how EPS can improve relationships with “equity-seeking groups.”

Okere detailed at length the bias awareness training brought in for EPS employees, as well as engagement efforts to help staff understand how LGBTQ people were historically treated by police and “why there might be a lack of trust in a certain community.”

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Okere also acknowledged Panas was later addressed as “Mr.” in communications with the EPS freedom of information office, which he called “unfortunate.” The incident led to broad changes in how EPS addresses correspondence, he said.

Human rights complaints can lead to fines if an organization or individual is found to have breached the Alberta Human Rights Act. Edmonton police were recently fined $80,000 after the tribunal found the rights of two Black men were violated when they were pepper sprayed while attempting to report a crime. EPS has sought a judicial review of the decision.

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