She waited 12 hours for Toronto police's non-emergency line. Then, she was disconnected
CBC
Rachel Carr started losing hope after she hit the five-hour mark on hold with Toronto police's non-emergency line, but couldn't bring herself to hang up since she'd already waited for so long.
"I still had a glimmer of hope that maybe they would eventually pick up, but unfortunately it didn't happen," she said.
Instead, right as the call entered the 12th hour, Carr was disconnected, meaning she didn't get to report that her and her husband's vehicles had been badly keyed outside their home, resulting in what she estimates is around $8,000 in damage.
"I find it quite alarming," she said.
"For me in my life, is it going to make a huge difference in this case? No. But another time, could it make a huge difference? Absolutely it could."
CBC Toronto has reported extensively on long 911 wait times, sometimes for up to 10 minutes, answered in the same call centre as non-emergency calls and by the same people. Investigations by CBC Toronto have previously found 911 wait times have continually worsened in recent years amid staffing issues, but police have said they've been improving in recent months.
This month, the call centre has come under scrutiny again as the city reviews a 911 call in which a caller waited on hold for nearly seven minutes while a teen was dying from a gunshot wound.
Toronto police spokesperson Nadine Ramadan says the service recognizes no one should have to wait hours on the non-emergency line, and how frustrating it can be.
"The reported situation and the wait time is not reflective of the usual average on our non-emergency line. We are reviewing this case to determine the cause and ensure every call in is addressed," Ramadan said of Carr's experience.
Carr says she first tried to report the incident online, but the Toronto police website says theft or vandalism over $5,000 must be reported by calling the non-emergency line.
Carr first called the non-emergency line on June 16 and waited on hold for one hour and 22 minutes, according to call logs reviewed by CBC Toronto. She says she accidentally hung up, so she called right back and waited for just over an hour before she got disconnected.
Carr called back and asked the person at the switchboard when it would be less busy, and was told to try in the morning.
On June 17, Carr called at 8:41 a.m. and waited to speak with someone from the communications centre for 12 hours, call logs show. She says the line got disconnected and she never did speak to anyone.
It wasn't until after CBC reached out to Toronto police to inquire about Carr's case that police contacted her and sent an officer to her home to take a vandalism report. A police spokesperson asked CBC Toronto to share Carr's phone number, saying it would help the call centre look into the situation, which Carr agreed to.
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