Woman calls 911 for ’emergency ride service’ after taxi fails to show
Posted November 21, 2019 11:06 am.
Last Updated November 21, 2019 4:41 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Police in the GTA are once again reminding people that calling 911 should only be for emergencies.
Peel Regional Police say they received a call last month to their emergency line, asking if police offered an emergency ride service because the caller said she was going to be late in catching her train.
“I’m supposed to have a trip to Union Station. The ride that was supposed to show up for me this morning did not,” said the unidentified caller. “And I don’t know how you guys work with services in terms of that, cause I’m in a taxi right now but it’s not gonna get me to the station on time for my train to board at 9:45 a.m.”
“So what would you like an officer to do?” asked the 911 operator.
“Do you guys offer emergency ride services or not?” asked the caller.
The 911 operator politely informs the caller that “we don’t do that” before telling her she should call a cab to get to her appointment.
While most people would chuckle and simply shake their heads, police say these types of calls tie up valuable resources and actually increases the risk of public safety.
“It delays the response time for police, firefighters, paramedics to attend actual emergencies,” adds Const. Sarah Patten.
Const. Akhil Mooken says police received more than 180,000 improper calls from the start of January to the end of October this year.
He says they included hangups, kids playing on the phone or other non-emergencies.
Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report
