The Struggles of Trans Individuals with Law Enforcement

AS REPORTED BY CBC NEWS: On an early spring evening in April 2019, in Edmonton, Alberta, a concerned friend of Marni Panas attempted to arrange a safety check after having a scheduled date. At a human rights hearing last year, it was explained that this precaution was necessary due to the higher risks of violence and sexual harassment that individuals identifying as [2SLGBTQQIA+] face. In a conversation with the Edmonton Police Service, Panas’ friend noted that Marni was ‘usually diligent and responsive.’ However, when she could not reach her friend, she became concerned and called 911 for assistance. The dispatcher who answered the call referred to Marni as “sir” three times, even after she identified Marni as a woman.

Click here to read the whole story.

When Panas’ friend identified herself and Marni as transgender in an attempt to communicate that they are at higher risk of violence, David Schening, a retired police officer who had previously worked investigating sex trafficking responded that Marni “shouldn’t be in that profession,” erroneously assuming that Marni was working in the sex trade. Additionally, Schening continued to call Marni “sir” and “buddy” after she had clarified that she was a trans woman.

NOWHERE TO TURN

Whenever the “system” conducts an internal investigation, it often overlooks and diminishes the profound experiences and traumas faced by transgender individuals. This tendency perpetuates a cycle of neglect and fails to acknowledge the unique struggles they endure, further isolating them in a society that often disregards their voices. 

CBC News continues, “An Alberta human rights tribunal has dismissed a complaint that the Edmonton Police Service was discriminatory in how officers responded to [the] safety check …” 

Transgender individuals often face various forms of intolerance and mistreatment by the police and judicial systems, and unfortunately, I have experienced this firsthand. Since returning to the Niagara region, I have encountered frequent misgendering and deadnaming by the Niagara Regional Police Service (Ashley Del Duca et al.) and the Ontario Provincial Police. Each time I file a complaint with the ineffective Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA), the impotent clerks at LECA redirect the investigation back to the offending service—in my case, the Niagara Regional Police Service. Unsurprisingly, those guilty of misconduct typically manage to present themselves as faultless, shifting the responsibility onto the victim instead.

While it is challenging to compare scenarios or real-world examples, I find many similarities between Panas’s encounter with the Edmonton Police Service and the culpable transphobic constables in the employ of our local police service (NRPS, OPP). Besides the misgendering and deadnaming we experience, police often make targets out of the trans community and profile and harass us. Repeating a previous quote from CBC News, “When [Marni] Panas’ friend identified herself [and Marni] as transgender, in an attempt to communicate that they are at higher risk of violence, Schening responded that Marni “shouldn’t be in that profession,” erroneously assuming that [Marni] was working in the sex trade.” That’s what the police think of us: we are nothing more than ‘creeps, deviants, or sex workers’ or some combination of the three.

Book Suggestion: What does non-binary really mean? What is gender nonconforming? And isn’t they a plural pronoun? If you would like to know more about the origins of pronouns and how to use them, check out, “How to They/Them: A Visual Guide to Nonbinary Pronouns and the World of Gender Fluidity” by Stuart Getty. (I have provided a link to the book on Amazon. This is an affiliate link.)

THE ADMINISTRATION OF INJUSTICE

As a defence advocate at a criminal law firm operating out of Hamilton, Ontario, I witnessed several instances of both unlawful arrests and charges and improper housing in detention facilities (including one example of a trans woman being deliberately placed in a male facility with male detainees and denied access to her medication). Trans individuals are more likely to face false accusations or be criminalized for behaviours linked to survival, such as sex work or homelessness, which are more common in trans communities due to systemic, institutionalized discrimination. Trans individuals are frequently housed according to their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity, putting them at greater risk of violence, abuse, and isolation.

If being the target of harassment, mistreatment, and twisted amusement by police services and constables wasn’t enough, transgender individuals also face barriers to reporting crimes. Because of the shared, ubiquitous injustice experienced by my community, queer and trans women are less likely to report crimes because this would require them to engage with services and constables that (frequently) trivialize their existence (i.e. Ashley Del Duca). Trans people often hesitate to report crimes, including hate crimes, due to a lack of trust in law enforcement and fear of being re-victimized or spurned. This has been my experience several times (NRPS, OPP). During my campaign for office in Niagara, I faced an alarming wave of harassment from specific individuals. I took this issue seriously and reported it to a constable (NRPS), discovering later that he had earned his commission to the Niagara Regional Police Service through nepotism. In our brief interaction, despite my presenting clear and substantial evidence of criminal harassment, his response was disheartening, “Well, you decided to run, and they’re only calling you.” This dismissive remark came even after I received over sixty harassing phone calls in just ten days, all during the late-night hours. Regrettably, my complaint was never escalated to the detectives, who could have taken appropriate action. 

Those who study criminology report that crimes committed against trans people, especially hate crimes, are frequently under-investigated, mischaracterized, or dismissed, contributing to systemic neglect and a lack of justice. Likewise, complaints against police misconduct directed at the transgender community are also under-investigated, mischaracterized, or rejected. The Niagara Regional Police Service has a veteran staff of overpaid professional gaslighters who are practiced in the art of obfuscation and misdirection. 

Continuing from CBC News, “Panas said she’s puzzled that Badejo found police acted discriminatorily, but then dismissed the complaint.” We have no advocates in the criminal justice system. The police are inaccessible to the queer, trans, and gender non-conforming community. Organizations like the Human Rights Tribunals are beginning to turn their collective backs on this equity-deserving community, and as I have seen in the OCJ and SCJ system here in Ontario, lawyers, judges, and court staff have exhibited prejudice against trans people, influencing the outcomes of cases or causing them to avoid seeking legal recourse for fear of discrimination.

For some time now, my message of anxiety and dread for the future has been joined by a growing choir of notable 2SLGBTQQIA+ organizations across Canada as we witness a rising tide of populist bigots winning elections on the promise of rolling back rights and protections for my community. The future is bleak for my community here in Ontario and across Canada. While my natural proclivity for the future is one of positivity, in the short-term, driven by dogmatic ideologies of faith, an information asymmetry and incongruity, a lack of scientific understanding or basic epistemology, and blind, concentrated bigotry, I fear that we are at the inauguration of a not-so-distant tidal wave of targeted attacks on this, my, vulnerable community.

Gay Merch Suggestion: If you would like to be an ally and are looking for an awesome Progress Pride flag, I suggest this one. It’s the very same that I hang in my office at work. (I have provided a link to the book on Amazon. This is an affiliate link.)

AFTERWARD: Attached below is a response from the Chief of Police for the Niagara Regional Police Service (Bill Fordy). I filed off a letter to Bill in response to a third case of transphobic misconduct by a police constable in St. Catharines, Ontario. Yet again, the local police service has demonstrated their natural propensity for provincialism by intentionally (or incidentally) misgendering me. Bill responded by stating that it wasn’t intentional, it was more by virtue of “incompetence” than malice (no one proof-reads their work at the NRPS, if you believe Bill).

• “Oops, we did it again. Signed, Bill Fordy” [Letter]
• The Original Document (General Occurrence Report) [Here]

• I DIDN’T PLAN TO BECOME A TEACHER: The Students Who Made Me Stay
• JUSTICE ENDS WHERE POLICING BEGINS: The Shameful History of Policing The Gay and Trans Community in Canada
• RAISED BY PLACES UNSEEN: The Quiet Way Borneo Found Me
• ALONE AGAINST THE SYSTEM: Fighting Police Misconduct in Ontario Means Surviving It
• PART 3 – NO PERMISSION NEEDED: What Was Once Shame Has Become Pride