It may simply be a case of people not understanding what constitutes an emergency, regardless, London police are concerned with the number of non-emergency calls to 911.
According to stats provided by police, dispatchers received 280,562 calls to 911 over the first 10 months of the year, an increase of over 11% from the year before. But, officials estimate nearly one-third of all 911 calls were non-emergency.
These tie-up the lines and could potentially prevent someone with a real, urgent need for help from getting through.
Police say you are to call 911 when there is a crime in progress or had just occurred. There is clear danger to yourself or the public or someone has died or is seriously injured. Otherwise, you are to call the non-emergency number (519-661-5670) or report a crime through the police website.