Brampton mayor passes motion that could see fines issued for careless 911 calls

Peel Region has passed a motion from Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown to have staff investigate whether or not fines can be issued to callers for negligent use of the 911 system.

Peel Regional Police say their communications centre receives about 1,800 calls to the 911 line each day, and of these calls, more than 40 per cent are deemed non-legitimate, inappropriate or misused.

Brown says it is important that 911 is only used for emergencies, and that the safety and well-being of residents are a top priority for council.

“I want to thank my colleagues at the Region of Peel for supporting my motion to have staff investigate whether fines or other penalties can be issued to callers for negligent use of the 911 system and that staff report to a future meeting of regional council with recommendations to minimize misuse and abuse of emergency services,” said Brown on Thursday.

Brampton City Council says there has been a 27 per cent increase in 911 calls in Peel Region since 2022, which has marked what Peel Regional Police calls the most significant increase in call volumes to date.

Last summer, Toronto and Peel police said they experienced an “exponential increase” in accidental 911 calls due to software updates on mobile phones.

At the time, Peel police said software updates to the Emergency SOS feature on Android devices make it easier to dial 911 unintentionally, and users are encouraged to turn the setting off.

With files from Meredith Bond of CityNews