Man was grabbing officer’s stun gun, police chief says
Cooper appears at commission meeting to elaborate on arrest caught on video
Sherri Penner says she is going through a “hard, emotional” time.
Sherri came to Saskatoon from Manitoba this week after a video was published online showing her 27-year-old son, Evan Penner, who is Indigenous, being repeatedly punched by a Saskatoon police officer while being arrested over the weekend.
“Me, as a mother, I’m taking it really hard that I had to see that,” Sherri said at a press conference in front of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations offices in Saskatoon on Thursday. Evan was not at the press conference.
Later Thursday, Police Chief Troy Cooper discussed the video at a special meeting of the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners.
Cooper told the board an officer was dispatched to a “suspicious person” call on July 4 following a complaint from a tenant in an apartment. One officer went to the scene and found a man in a yard adjacent to the complex.
Cooper said the officer confronted the man and tried to take him into custody, at which point a struggle ensued. He said the man grabbed the officer’s Taser, opening up the officer’s duty belt. At that point, the officer used his pepper spray on the man.
Cooper said the man grabbed one of the officer’s ammunition magazines during the struggle and attempted to strike the officer in the face with it.
A near seven-minute video of Penner’s arrest that was posted online Monday began after Penner had been pepper sprayed.
Cooper said more officers arrived on the scene and both a Taser and physical force were used to take Penner into custody. He said the officer seen on video straddling Penner did not receive significant physical injuries and Penner received non life-threatening injuries to his face.
Penner is charged with mischief, assault with a weapon (the magazine) and attempting to disarm an officer of his Taser, Cooper said.
The province’s Public Complaints Commission will conduct an independent investigation into the incident.
The first responding officer was placed on a “short-term of leave,” in-line with the police service’s policy on serious incidents. Cooper explained that this time off allows officers involved in a serious incident to ensure they are healthy before they are debriefed.
“It’s not punitive, it’s not connected to this investigation and it’s not part of any discipline,” Cooper said.
Unfortunately, necessary and reasonable force is part of a police officer’s job due to non-compliant arrests.
“I understand that these are very emotional times and I want to remind the community that our staff are professional and they are going to continue to serve the city despite the additional scrutiny that they are facing and despite the additional risk that is included in policing today,” he said.
He asked for patience while the public complaints investigation process takes place.
In a statement posted to Facebook, the Saskatoon Police Commission, the union representing Saskatoon’s police officers, said the posted video did not show the whole story and that Penner had also tried to bite the first responding officer. The statement also alleged that the incident leading to Penner’s arrest was the third time police had dealt with him that day.
“Any use of force is not pleasant to watch. Unfortunately, necessary and reasonable force is part of a police officer’s job due to non-compliant arrests,” the union said in its statement.
At the Board of Police Commissioners meeting, members discussed the fact that city police are seeing more people with mental health and addictions issues, including an unprecedented increase in crystal meth-related incidents in the last two months.
Police board chair Darlene Brander told the Starphoenix the board appreciated the level of disclosure given by Cooper at the meeting.
New information has been coming to light daily and Brander says there’s a risk people will come to conclusions that aren’t accurate by not allowing due process to take place first — and that can take time.
“We’re asking for the public’s patience to allow this due process to occur,” she said.
According to FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron, Sherri and Evan will stay in Saskatoon until Evan’s journey through court is over.
Evan’s lawyer, Eleanore Sunchild, told reporters her client is “traumatized” and will need to seek assistance. She said they will be looking at ways to hold the police officers involved accountable, including possibly pressing for criminal charges.
Cameron said he wants to see systemic change in policing and the justice system, including greater use of restorative justice and investments in rehabilitation. He is also calling for police officers to be trained in the protocols and traditions of First Nations peoples.
Vice Chief Dutch Lerat reiterated the FSIN’S call for independent civilian oversight of police in Saskatchewan and said he wants to see investigations of all “unnecessary” uses of force and violence. He acknowledged there are “exceptional” people on police forces and called on them to join members of the public in calling for change.