Recently, the Vancouver Police changed their policy regarding when to call 911 for emergency services.
Effective March 12th, all non-emergency calls, which the Police consider any call that does not require IMMEDIATE police intervention, should be directed to 604.717.3321 (too bad they could not come up with a more catchy number).
Here is a link to their website explaining the change. The quick version of the story is that the number of calls to 911 have increased dramatically over the past few years and the Police need an easier way to distinguish priority levels.
When should you call 911?
1. If you need immediate Police response
2. If someone’s life is in immediate danger
3. A crime is in progress or has JUST occurred
All of the non-emergency calls will still be answered in the same facility (E-COMM), but will be routed to different operators. E-COMM has committed to answering 80% of all non-emergency calls within three minutes, 24 hours a day.
Keep in mind that you can always call Provident to help out if you observe any suspicious activity in your neighbourhood. We are open 24 hours a day and happy to take your calls at anytime. Please make sure that any nannies or babysitters that might be in your home know that they should call us as well.
If you are ever in doubt as to whether or not to call 911, call 911.