911 wait times must be reduced in Mississauga, Brampton: police

Police say the 911 emergency call system in Mississauga and Brampton must improve in order keep the region’s residents as safe as possible.

Specifically, Peel Regional Police say, their efforts are focused on decreasing both 911 call wait times and misuse of the emergency system by members of the public.

Peel police brass and the Peel Police Service Board will host a press conference Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. at police headquarters in Mississauga to provide an update on their efforts on those fronts.

While police didn’t say what they’ll speak about specifically, they have earlier talked about going beyond public awareness initiatives to introduce cash fines for people who make negligent 911 calls in Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.

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.

The police service board is a civilian body that governs Peel police and is responsible for providing effective police services, law enforcement and crime prevention.

Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah, police service board chair Nando Iannicca and Brown are among those scheduled to speak at the media address on Tuesday.

In recent years, police say misuse — either intentionally or accidentally — of the 911 system in Mississauga and Brampton has been on the rise, and they want to reverse that trend.

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 for the first time it topped 50 per cent.

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, police said earlier.

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.

“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.

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