Accidental 911 calls an issue for local OPP

GUELPH – Emergency calls to police are on the rise in Wellington County, but much of it can be attributed to unintentional 911 calls.

Police services board chair councillor David Anderson reported at the Sept. 26 county council meeting police had dealt with  about 600 more 911 calls to the end of June 2019, compared to the same period last year.

Anderson said “a lot of it is due to cell phones” and people accidentally dialing 911. “It’s taking a lot of time and effort to deal with a lot of these 911 calls,” Anderson noted.

Anderson said the OPP are planning to initiate a social media campaign to make citizens aware of the problem and how to avoid it. Anderson noted there has also been an increase in “general crime” over the previous year.

“We have a lot of people moving into our community and a more calls and more demand and more issues,” he said.