VIDEO: See how 911 system has changed in Mississauga and Brampton
Published April 16, 2024 at 1:18 pm
The objective hasn’t changed at all in 50 years. In responding to the tens of thousands of 911 callers each month in Mississauga and Brampton, emergency call-takers seek to quickly and accurately assess every situation and then get help to where it’s needed as fast as possible.
What has changed in the five decades since Peel Regional Police was formed in 1974 along with the region’s two large cities is the technology used by emergency dispatchers to carry out their crucial, life-saving duties.
Some ways in which the 911 system has evolved can be seen in a video posted by Peel police to social media to mark National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, which continues until April 20 (see below).
“Over the last 50 years, much has changed in our Communications Centre and the technologies we use,” Peel police wrote in a post to X on Monday. “However, the professionalism, compassion and perseverance of our fantastic communicators who answer the phones and radio have remained the same — the lifeline of public safety.”
Most recently, police brass in Peel pointed to a significant change in 911 technology they say will more quickly connect residents in crisis to first responders.
Over the last 50 years, much has changed in our Communications Centre and the technologies we use. However, the professionalism, compassion, and perseverance of our fantastic communicators who answer the phones & radio have remained the same. The lifeline of public safety #NPSTW pic.twitter.com/bwn1pGJABV
— Peel Regional Police (@PeelPolice) April 15, 2024
Videos
In unveiling their new next-generation 911 (NG911) system in February, Peel police noted Mississauga and Brampton residents were the first in Ontario to benefit from an upgrade in such technology.
Essentially, police said, the new system modernizes Peel’s 911 system.
The significant system upgrade comes as police say too many people are still misusing 911 — either through honest mistakes such as misdials or calling the emergency number for issues they must know are not legitimate emergencies.
Last October and November, for example, Peel police said more than 50,000 calls to 911 in Mississauga and Brampton (of 100,000 or so total calls) were not for legitimate emergencies. Such ongoing misuse of the emergency number will cost lives, police added.
Police in Peel have been trying for several years to get the rate of such non-emergency calls to 911 down to a more acceptable number. The rate has remained at about 40 per cent or greater of all 911 calls over the last several years.
OPP face the same 911 misuse problem, noting on several occasions people have recently called the emergency number to complain to dispatchers about the issuing of an Amber Alert, the system used to help find children who’ve been abducted.
insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising