Ottawa police seeing spike in 911 hang up calls

Ottawa Police headquarters on Elgin St. is seen in this undated photo. (CTV News Ottawa)

The Ottawa Police Service is seeing a spike in false 911 calls for service.

The Ottawa police computer-aided dispatch system received approximately 95,200 calls for service in the first three months of the year, the highest number of calls in the first quarter in over a decade.

However, a report for Monday's Ottawa Police Services Board meeting says the spike in calls is being driven by people calling 911 and hanging up.

"This result is driven by calls initially coded as Emergency 911 Activation Assessment and final as False 911 – No Emergency Identified," staff said in the report.

"The OPS Communications Centre is seeing an increase in the number of 911 calls where the caller has hung up. This is being analyzed to determine the cause."

Police did not say how many hang-up calls 911 received in the first quarter.

The report says Ottawa police received 100,750 demands for service in the first quarter, through both calls for service and online reporting. That's up from 85,000 requests during the same period in 2022.

Ottawa police have a five-year average of 87,850 demands for service in the January to March period.

Online reports for service

In the first quarter of the year, there were 5,500 online reports for service, 12 per cent higher than the five-year average.

Shoplifting accounts for over 40 per cent of all reports received online, followed by traffic complaints (7 per cent) and thefts from vehicles (5 per cent).