Toronto police have launched a new three-digit number in an effort to divert non-emergency calls away from 911.
Individuals can now dial *877 – or *TPS – from their mobile device to report crimes that are no longer an emergency, such as a break-in when you’re not home, dangerous driving, or behaviours that are not an immediate threat. People must dial the asterisk symbol (*) before the number.
The feature is currently supported by all major wireless carriers, including Rogers, Bell, Telus, and their respective subsidiary companies.
However, *877 is not accessible by traditional phone infrastructure or from landlines. Toronto police say those people should continue to use 416-808-2222 for non-emergency calls.
The introduction of the new service is in response to recommendations made by Toronto’s auditor general, which found the police service did not meet the National Emergency Number Association’s standard when it comes to answering 90 per cent of 911 calls within 15 seconds. Call volumes and staffing levels were cited as the two biggest factors.
According to Toronto police data, TPS receives nearly two million calls each year, making it one of the busiest services in the country.
Earlier this year, Toronto police rolled out a new digital communications centre system as part of a plan to address long wait times when dialling 911.
Dubbed next-generation 911 (NG911), callers who misdial or are disconnected from 911 will receive a text message asking them to respond with a ‘1’ if it’s an emergency or ‘9’ if it’s not an emergency.