overview: how to report : personal safety
property security : autotheft
neighbourhood watch

Reporting Crimes and Emergencies

Any crime in progress, any situation where people or property are at risk, or any serious medical condition requiring immediate attention can be considered emergencies.

Dial 911 to report an emergency. Stay calm and explain the emergency. Give the full address of the location. Let the operator control the conversation and stay on the line until you are transferred to the appropriate Emergency Service or you are told to hang up.

Your address and phone number is automatically displayed to the 911 operator.

If you are not sure if something is really an emergency - dial 911 anyway and report what is happening to the operator. If the operator decides it is not an emergency, they will ask you to hang up and call a non-emergency number. On very rare occasions, you may get a recorded message when dialing 911. Do not hang up. Your call will be answered as soon as an operator is available.

It is important to note the seriousness of keeping 911 lines available for real emergencies. People reporting incidents that are NOT real emergencies can tie up the 911 operators, preventing real emergencies from getting the attention they need. Teach your children that the phone is not a toy and impress upon them the importance of dialing 911 in an emergency.

If you are reporting something to the Police that does not meet the definition of an emergency, dial the Non-Emergency phone number - 986-6222. This may include seeing something you feel is suspicious, or a crime that has taken place but the offender has left the scene. The operator may take the information from you or may ask you to go in person to any District Police Station or Police Service Centre to complete an incident report there.

In either case a detailed description of the suspect and/or vehicle will be required. Without endangering yourself, obtain as much information as possible and pass it on to the Police operator:

Suspect

• Sex
• Age
• Height / Weight
• Build
• Complexion
• Colour of Hair / Eyes
• Description of Clothing
• Marks, Scars and Tattoos

Vehicle

• License Place Number & Province
• Make
• Model
• The direction the vehicle was going when it was last seen

overview
how to report
personal safety
property security
autotheft
neighbourhood watch

People reporting incidents that are NOT real emergencies sometimes tie up the 911 emergency line. This can prevent people with real emergencies from getting the help they need.