On a separate but important note, the Township has been notified by the OPP of an unusual increase in the number of 911 calls to the OPP of which over half are NOT emergencies. The OPP wishes to remind EVERYONE that ONLY life threatening emergencies are to use 911.
For the many non-emergency, yet important concerns, the OPP has set up an Online Citizen Self Reporting system to report select occurrences to police which include: Theft under $5000, Mischief/Damage to property or a vehicle under $5000, theft from a vehicle; and lost/missing property. You can always call the OPP at 888-310-1122.
The majority of false emergency calls made are pocket calls or calls made by children playing with cell phones which places a huge burden on those resources and could prevent a speedy response to someone’s life threatening emergency that could result in a potential tragedy. The OPP therefore offers suggestions for how to avoid those.
The OPP is now offering a Text with 911 (T911) for those who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired to communicate with 911 via text message in the case of an emergency. To institute this, the cell phone MUST be registered with the wireless carrier.
So three things to remember or do:
- Learn more about taking precautions to avoid pocket calls/children playing with cell phones to 911
- Learn more about the use the Online Citizen Self Reporting system for certain non emergency calls.
- Register the phone of an impaired person for T911 by contacting their wireless carrier.