2,000 calls a day made to 911 in Mississauga, Brampton; more than half aren’t emergencies

More than half of the nearly 730,000 calls made to 911 in Mississauga and Brampton in 2023 did not involve real emergencies, marking a dramatic uptick in such calls from the previous year.

The numbers, which appear in the 2023 Peel Regional Police annual report, show of the 728,394 911 calls (1,996 per day) made last year, 389,507 (1,067 calls per day) were deemed “inappropriate,” meaning they weren’t legitimate emergencies.

The report shows that while the total number of 911 calls last year represented a 13 per cent increase from 2022, “inappropriate” calls to the emergency line rose by 27 per cent from one year to the next.

In 2022, 644,106 calls to 911 (1,765 per day) were received by Peel communications centre dispatchers, 305,639 of those (837 per day) determined to be “inappropriate,” or a misuse of the system.

Those numbers were up from 2021 figures by 30 per cent and 29 per cent, respectively.

In 2021, there were 496,979 calls to 911 in Peel (1,362 per day), with 237,631 (651 per day) recorded as “inappropriate.” Those figures were up 11 per cent and four per cent, respectively, from 2020, according to the report.

To put the increase in non-emergency 911 calls another way: Comparing average daily numbers between 2021 and 2023, 416 more calls each day last year were deemed to be a misuse of 911 compared to daily calls received in 2021.

“Inappropriate” 911 calls include misdials/pocket dials, calls from people who don’t know what qualifies as a legitimate 911 emergency and calls from people who are deliberately misusing the system.

Peel police have been trying for years to get the rate of non-emergency calls to 911 down to a more acceptable number through several public awareness/social media education campaigns each year.

Such efforts are crucial, police say, as non-emergency 911 calls take the time and attention of dispatchers away from real emergencies where people’s lives could be in danger.

Still, the rate of such calls remained at about 40 per cent or greater of all 911 calls over the last several years until 2023, when it topped 50 per cent.

OPP face the same 911 misuse problem, noting numerous examples of incorrect use of the emergency number on a regular basis.

Moving forward, Peel police are looking to go beyond public awareness initiatives and introduce cash fines for people who make negligent 911 calls in Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.

It’s an additional attempt to crack down on what they say is blatant misuse that’s putting people’s lives at risk.

This past January, in pushing for such fines, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown noted the region’s 911 call centre is at a “breaking point” as Peel police deal with far too many non-emergency calls.