RCMP Press Release April 12, 2021 @ 9:55am published at 2:19pm
In recognition of the hard work of Operational Communications Centres (OCC) during the National Public Safety Tele-communicators Week from April 11 – 17, Alberta RCMP will be highlighting some of the interesting 911 calls they have received in the past year.
People are not always aware of what constitutes an emergency. Our teams work hard behind the scenes 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to manage incoming calls for service to keep our citizens and communities safe throughout Alberta. Sometimes, it is interesting to review what shouldn’t be done in order to understand what is appropriate to do.
Here are some interesting calls that operators received to 911 in the past year:
· “My phone settings are all in another language, how can I change it back?”
· “Can you bring me a hamburger? I am hungry and cannot drive!”
· “I need you to stop my teenage son from vaping!”
· “My neighbour is plowing snow incorrectly!”
· “The neighbour’s kids strum the guitar every time I go for a smoke. No matter what time of day, this has been ongoing for three months since the start of lockdown.”
· Multiple calls reporting suspicious satellites when SpaceX launched.
· After reporting that their airplane had been redirected from Edmonton to Calgary, a caller refused to exit the plane until their luggage was provided to them first.
With more than 890,000 calls for service to 911 recorded in the past year, we remind citizens to be mindful that emergency communications centres are busy at all hours with incoming calls about public safety. 911 should only be dialed in true emergency situations – when public or personal safety is at risk or a crime is in progress.
Throughout this week, Alberta RCMP will share the above 911 calls on social media along with other information at @AlbertaRCMP on Twitter or the @RCMPinAlberta Facebook page, and follow #NPSTW2021. There is more information about the work of the OCC on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4gJzrvpYTk.
“OCC operators work tirelessly, behind the scenes in high stress circumstances, serving the citizens of Alberta and our employees every day. They are lifelines for Albertans in emergency situations, and we could not provide the service we do without them. Every 911 call is taken seriously on our end.”- Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki, Commanding Officer of the Alberta RCMP
Quick Facts
· The Alberta RCMP has two OCCs, one in Edmonton and one in Red Deer.
· OCCs are staffed 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year by a team of about 160 highly trained professionals, and serving 114 RCMP jurisdictions that encompass approximately 1.3 million Albertans.
· In 2020, there were a total of 890,972 calls for service, with 373,104 files opened.