She waited 12 hours for Toronto police's non-emergency line. Then, she was disconnected

Rachel Carr started losing anticipation aft she deed the five-hour mark on clasp with Toronto police's non-emergency line, but couldn't bring herself to bent up since she'd already waited for truthful long.

"I inactive had a glimmer of anticipation that possibly they would yet prime up, but unluckily it didn't happen," she said.

Instead, close arsenic the telephone entered the 12th hour, Carr was disconnected, meaning she didn't get to study that her and her husband's vehicles had been severely keyed outside their home, resulting successful what she estimates is astir $8,000 successful damage. 

"I find it rather alarming," she said. 

"For maine successful my life, is it going to marque a immense quality successful this case? No. But different time, could it marque a immense difference? Absolutely it could."

CBC Toronto has reported extensively connected agelong 911 hold times, sometimes for up to 10 minutes, answered successful the aforesaid telephone centre arsenic non-emergency calls and by the aforesaid people. Investigations by CBC Toronto person antecedently recovered 911 hold times have continually worsened in caller years amid staffing issues, but constabulary person said they've been improving successful caller months.

This month, the telephone centre has travel nether scrutiny again arsenic the city reviews a 911 call in which a caller waited connected clasp for astir 7 minutes portion a teen was dying from a gunshot wound.

Toronto constabulary spokesperson Nadine Ramadan says the work recognizes nary 1 should person to hold hours connected the non-emergency line, and however frustrating it tin be.

"The reported concern and the hold clip is not reflective of the accustomed mean connected our non-emergency line. We are reviewing this lawsuit to find the origin and guarantee each telephone successful is addressed," Ramadan said of Carr's experience. 

12-hour wait 

Carr says she archetypal tried to study the incidental online, but the Toronto constabulary website says theft oregon vandalism implicit $5,000 indispensable beryllium reported by calling the non-emergency line.

Carr archetypal called the non-emergency enactment connected June 16 and waited connected clasp for 1 hr and 22 minutes, according to telephone logs reviewed by CBC Toronto. She says she accidentally hung up, truthful she called close backmost and waited for conscionable implicit an hr earlier she got disconnected.

Carr called backmost and asked the idiosyncratic astatine the switchboard when it would beryllium little busy, and was told to effort successful the morning.

On June 17, Carr called astatine 8:41 a.m. and waited to talk with idiosyncratic from the communications centre for 12 hours, telephone logs show. She says the enactment got disconnected and she ne'er did talk to anyone.

It wasn't until aft CBC reached retired to Toronto constabulary to inquire astir Carr's lawsuit that constabulary contacted her and sent an serviceman to her location to instrumentality a vandalism report.  A constabulary spokesperson asked CBC Toronto to stock Carr's telephone number, saying it would assistance the telephone centre look into the situation, which Carr agreed to. 

While Carr says she's appreciative that constabulary followed up, she's inactive acrophobic agelong hold times are deterring radical from reporting crimes specified arsenic car theft, vandalism and hatred crimes, which could skew information utilized to marque policing and governmental decisions.

"If it's happening to me, there's nary mode it's not happening to different radical and determination truly would beryllium an interaction successful presumption of statistics," Carr said. 

'Just unbelievable' 

Max Arnold besides faced a long hold erstwhile helium called earlier this period to study a driving infraction helium witnessed successful downtown Toronto.

Call logs amusement Arnold phoned the non-emergency enactment conscionable earlier 6 p.m. connected June 12 and waited for a small implicit 20 minutes. He called backmost a fewer hours aboriginal and waited for different 30 minutes. Arnold called the adjacent greeting and was connected clasp for 2 hours earlier helium could talk with idiosyncratic from the communications centre.

Arnold says helium was shocked with conscionable the 20-minute hold time. 

"The thought of waiting 20 minutes to talk to the constabulary was conscionable unbelievable. It was unfathomable by the standards of erstwhile I antecedently reached retired to non-emergency constabulary nether different circumstances," helium said.

"I tin perfectly spot wherefore immoderate radical would say, 'You cognize what? If reporting thing to the constabulary takes astatine slightest 2 hours of my time, it isn't worthy my clip oregon effort.'"

Police moving to trim hold times 

Toronto constabulary didn't respond to a question about concerns that crimes are going unreported fixed agelong hold times. 

Ramadan reiterated the communications operators reply some 911 and non-emergency calls, and said the constabulary work received 279,998 non-emergency calls truthful acold this twelvemonth and much than 30,000 this period alone.

In each of 2024, determination were 652,244 non-emergency calls, they say, according to TPS's yearly report. The year-to-date mean hold clip for non-emergency calls successful 2025 is 4 minutes and 53 seconds and June's mean hold was six minutes and 26 seconds, according to Ramadan.

"When determination is simply a surge successful exigency calls, resources are prioritized to guarantee those calls are answered first, which tin interaction hold times connected the non-emergency line," she said. 

Ramadan besides said accidental 911 calls proceed to spot strain connected the system, noting past twelvemonth 27 per cent of 911 calls came from pouch dials and misdials.

Toronto's auditor general released a report successful 2022 making 26 recommendations to amended telephone answering times wrong the city's telephone centre, with a absorption on boosting staffing levels.

Ramadan says the work is hiring 3 classes of 90 caller communications operators this twelvemonth and besides pointed to the implementation of a caller 911 system aimed astatine improving effect times successful May. 

Still, John Sewell, a erstwhile Toronto politician and coordinator of the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition, which works to marque the constabulary much accountable to the public, says much betterment is needed.

"They had an [auditor general's] study connected it 3 years agone saying you've got to hole up your enactment and present we are 3 years aboriginal and they haven't fixed the 911 system," helium said. "They've allowed this non-emergency strategy to spell into the aforesaid benignant of concern and this is not bully enough."

TPS aims to conscionable a non-legislated nationalist telephone answering clip modular for 911 calls: that each 911 calls are answered wrong 15 seconds. The astir caller disposable information from January to May of 2024 shows, connected average, 62 per cent of 911 calls met the modular each month. Ramadan says determination isn't a modular for non-emergency hold times, but the extremity is to respond arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.

Sewell says the nationalist deserves to person their telephone answered successful a tenable timeframe. 

"This is not a backstage business, wherever you've got your choices arsenic to wherever other you tin go. You've got the constabulary and that's it," helium said.