911 wait times in Peel Region down nearly 80 per cent

911 call wait times in Peel Region are down nearly 80 per cent this year, with callers waiting an average of 14 seconds before connecting with a dispatcher, officials say.

Peel Regional Police released the data at a news conference on Tuesday, crediting public education about 911 misuse, new technology, and staffing increases as the reasons why 911 calls are being answered faster.

Since the start of the year, police said there has also been a 92 per cent increase in calls being answered within 15 seconds.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown was in attendance at Tuesday’s news conference and said the challenge of reducing 911 call times in Peel Region was “heartbreaking.”

“I remember getting calls from residents talking about wait times, and I remember being flabbergasted at the fact that a country as prosperous as Canada had wait times as long as they were,” he said.

Greater Toronto Area police forces have reported an increase in their emergency call volumes in recent years, as well as an uptick in the number of calls considered to be non-emergencies or accidental.

Next Generation 911, the system used by police forces in Toronto and Peel Region, appears to be helping dispatchers handle the call traffic.

The program, introduced as part of a directive by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, is particularly good at addressing 911 misuse, and uses automation to manage pocket dials and misdials, freeing up dispatchers to address real emergencies faster, police said.

To date, Peel police chief Nishan Duraiappah said the technology has screened 75,000 “hang up” calls.

“This has eliminated the need, not only for us to call everybody back, but for those five additional [dispatchers] who were doing that, 24/7, instead, those five people are able to reorient their interest to make sure we’re getting to the 911 calls that we need to,” he said.

At one point, over 40 per cent of the 911 calls received in Peel Region were determined to be inappropriate, Duraiappah said in 2023. Over the years, police have shared examples of those calls, including complaints about coffee orders, non-working TVs, and people playing cricket.

Earlier this year, a motion was passed in Brampton that could lead to fines for using the emergency line inappropriately. Brown said a staff report on the matter is forthcoming.