How long you can expect to wait for police in London on the rise
Police response times are suffering in London as officers face increasingly complex calls for help.
On Thursday, the London Police Services Board received the 2020 Annual Report on policing, including average response times to 911 calls.
The highest priority calls (Code 1), life-threatening emergencies, now take an average of nine minutes between calling 911 and the arrival of a police officer.
Urgent calls of a non-life-threatening crime in progress now takes two hours and 44 minutes on average, and the response to non-urgent calls averages over 13-and-a-half hours.
“That’s very valuable time. Evidence, life and health are at risk,” says Rick Robson on behalf of the London Police Association (LPA), the union that represents officers.
Deputy Chief Stuart Betts told the police board that response times reflect the rising complexity of policing.
“The nature of the calls has changed,” explained Betts. “The complexity has increased, and it's part of an overall increasing degree of complexity in the justice system.”
Since 2011, the average time spent on each police call has risen 27 per cent, to two hours and 41 minutes.
(Source: 2020 Annual Report to London Police Services Board)
(Source: 2020 Annual Report to London Police Services Board)
The LPA says the situation is taking a toll on officers.
“Our officers are burning out,” admits Robson. “They cannot continue to go significant call to significant call and continue to have 50 to 100 calls waiting in the queue for them.”
The nine-minute response for “lights and siren” emergency calls represents the time between a 911 call is placed and an officer arriving on scene, including two minutes and thirty-five seconds (average) that the caller speaks to an operator before police are dispatched.
(Source: 2020 Annual Report to London Police Services Board)
(Source: 2020 Annual Report to London Police Services Board)
Unlike fire and ambulance service, there is no target for police response times.
Betts says in part that’s because police are dispatched from vehicles in the field rather than neighbourhood stations.
Betts and Robson agree that speeding up response times will require system-wide change.
“Unless there is a change from police being the front line for mental health and other social ills, the only other answer is more resources,” says Robson.
“Quite frankly, adding more officers will make an impact, but it won’t make a defining impact,” explains Betts. “There are more things we can do like adding technology that will allow us to be in the right place at the right times.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Suspects waving weapons, smashing glass in Toronto jewelry store robbery caught on video
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
New evidence challenges the Pentagon's account of a horrific attack as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan: CNN exclusive
New video evidence uncovered by CNN significantly undermines two Pentagon investigations into an ISIS-K suicide attack outside Kabul airport, during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.