Woman calls 911 to ask for bank phone number in Mississauga

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Published January 16, 2024 at 9:02 am

911 call

In the latest misuse of 911, a woman dialled the emergency number to ask for a bank phone number in Mississauga.

Peel Regional Police shared this latest call on X (formerly Twitter).

In the past, police shared 911 misuse calls for a sandwich order complaint, a complaint about people playing cricket in a park, and a disagreement at a Tim Hortons over an iced capp.

In this latest call, a woman asks for the phone number to a neighbourhood bank.

Here is how the call went:

Operator: 911, Do you need police, fire or ambulance?

Woman: No, I need it for the bank, um, the Westwood Mall’s phone number.

Operator: OK, Ma’am?

Woman: Yes?

Operator: Do you have a life-threatening emergency right now?

Woman: No

Operator: OK, 911 is for life-threatening emergencies or major crimes in progress. I do not have the phone number of any banks in the area.

Woman: Oh, OK.

Operator: OK, this is not an appropriate use of 911. There’s lots of people who have real emergencies but now I’m speaking to you.

Woman: I’m sorry about that.

Operator: OK, bye, bye.

Woman: Bye.

Police share these calls to highlight the misuse of 911. The 911 communicators received as many as 71,000 calls per month in 2023.

Close to half of those calls were 911 misuse or hang-ups, police said.

In the future, people could face fines for misuse of 911.

Peel Regional Council is considering fines to deter residents from calling 911 in non-emergency situations, tying up police and emergency services resources.

But residents shouldn’t hesitate to call 911 for life-threatening emergencies or a crime in progress.

For other, non-emergency police calls contact 905-453-3311 or make a report on the Peel Regional Police website.

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