Woman demanding changes to 911 system, after waiting for police during attempted break in

Cheryl Schneider shows the door to the fitness studio where she says two inebriated men tried to break in on Monday, July 22.

An Edmonton woman is pushing for changes to the 911 dispatch system, after waiting for an hour for police to arrive while a pair of apparently inebriated men tried to break into her business earlier this week.

Cheryl Schneider was teaching a spin class at about 6 a.m. Monday in Millbourne, when two men burst in and disrupted the class.

“They were pumping their arms, and you could smell the alcohol on them for sure,” Schneider said.

Eventually, they were convinced to leave, and were locked out – but that’s when things took a turn.

“Immediately after that, the banging started, and the cursing and ‘Let us in’,” Schneider said.

“They used the board to hit the door, because we could hear it downstairs.”

At this point, Schneider called 911 and was told police were on their way.

“I hung up the phone, with the feeling of ‘Okay, we’re going to be okay’,” Schneider said. "The good guys are coming in, and they're going to handle the situation."

However, the banging continued – and the police didn’t arrive, according to her phone log, Schneider called police four times, but said officers didn’t arrive until more than an hour after the first call and after the men had left.

Schneider sought answers from police, who she said told her the main reason for the delay was a shift change.

“At that point I just became so disheartened,” Schneider said.

“I can’t sleep at night thinking ‘Phone 911, but hopefully they’re not in a shift change’.”

Insp. Blair Edl said Schneider’s call was not high on the priority list that morning, other higher priority calls were being dealt with.

“In our opinion, this was a non-emergency call,” Edl explained, saying officers arrived as quickly as they could, and this case was handled properly.

“The best plan was to have the next available units, that started at 7 that morning, attend that call,” Edl said.

Councillor Amarjeet Sohi, who represents the area Schneider’s business stands in, was concerned to hear the story.

“This should not have happened,” Sohi said. The councillor has asked the Edmonton Police Commission to investigate the incident.

“Something has gone wrong,” Sohi said. “And what that is, I don’t know, we’re going to check into that.”

Although police said the case was handled properly, officials are reviewing the incident, but there’s no word on when that investigation, or the police commission review, are completed.

With files from Bill Fortier