EDMONTON- Global News has teamed up with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) for a weekly segment dealing with when you should and should not dial 911.
Forty per cent of the calls 911 operators answer on a daily basis are not emergency- related, according to EPS. Those non-emergent 911 calls tie up a lot of police resources.
As a result, officers hope to educate Edmontonians on what constitutes an emergency.
“Actual emergencies would be a crime in progress, or something where somebody’s life is in imminent danger,” explained Constable Adam Kitchen with EPS.
Every Wednesday, a representative from EPS will appear on the Morning News to provide two examples of 911 calls; one that is considered an emergency and one that is not.
The first example is of a call that would not be considered an emergency. The caller dialled 911 to report someone who was parked in his parking stall. The caller even said to the dispatcher “it’s not an emergency.”
Listen to the call below:
Kitchen says despite the fact the caller was polite, he should not have dialled 911.
“There’s two numbers that are so easy to call and everyone these days has a smart phone, or most people have smart phones that they can at least look up the phone numbers for the police service on.”
The second example is of a call that would be considered an emergency. The caller dialled 911 to report her son, who was potentially getting violent because his mother would not buy cigarettes for him.
Listen to the call below:
“It starts off with, really not a police issue and then turns into something that we should probably go and at least check out,” said Kitchen.
“She obviously sounded very frustrated and upset, so either she was just upset over her child’s behaviour or he was trashing the house or assaulted her.”
Because responding to non-emergent 911 calls can be time consuming, police are urging Edmontonians to only dial 911 in an actual emergency.
EPS recommends calling 911 in an emergency if:
– Your life, or that of another person, is in danger
– You are witnessing a crime in progress
– You were just in a collision and you are injured
– If you suspect that a motorist is impaired
EPS recommends calling #377 (from your mobile phone only) or 780-423-4567 for non-emergencies if:
– You need to report a crime that has already occurred, and there are no suspects or evidence
– You were in a vehicle collision and did not sustain injuries, and your vehicle is not driveable
– You want to report suspicious persons or activities
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