Latest news with #911response
CTV News
07-08-2025
- CTV News
Peel police could soon roll out drones for 911 response calls
Peel Regional Police could soon begin using drones to respond to 911 calls, alongside regular officers. In a statement to CP24, a spokesperson for Peel police explained that it is 'exploring the use of drone technology as a first-response tool for select 911 calls.' 'The initiative aims to reduce response times and provide officers with real-time information before they arrive. While specific call types are still being finalized, drones may be used for in-progress incidents such as break and enters, missing vulnerable persons, or auto thefts,' the statement notes. 'All drone operations will be managed by trained officers through our Aerial Support Unit and Community Safety Operations Centre and will not be used for general surveillance or utilize facial recognition technology.' Police say that right now they are in the 'planning and regulatory review phase,' and will be guided by privacy concerns and community consultations as they begin the pilot program. Police went on to say that they expect they are 'one of, if not the first police service in Canada to deploy drones in this capacity.' 'We are committed to advancing technology in our service to better support our communities and equip officers with the tools needed to enhance emergency response efforts,' the statement notes. 'We look forward to sharing more details at the appropriate time.' Taking law enforcement to new heights Police forces across Ontario have been using drones as part of their investigations for years. The drones can be used as a tool in pursuits, tagging distracted drivers, and in other operations. Technology expert Carmi Levy told CP24 that it is 'no surprise' to see law enforcement agencies increasingly moving forward with drone programs. Levi, however, points out that the program being proposed in Peel Region is different than how drones have been deployed by Ontario police forces previously, '(drones) are usually carried as cargo in a police vehicle, and officers decide when and how to deploy them,' he said. Using drones as a first response tool, Levi said, 'moves the decision upstream, into the dispatch space, where it's up to the 911 dispatcher's discretion whether to launch a drone before the human officer can possibly get there.' 'It could be a lifesaver in so many situations' Peel police told CTV News that 'The initiative aims to reduce response times and provide officers with real-time information before they arrive.' Police provided examples of calls that drones might be deployed to, including break-ins, missing persons, and auto thefts. Levi said that he is confident that a drone could assist police with their work, by using sensors that can 'transmit various types of real-time data - optical, infrared, night vision, sound, LIDAR, chemical detection, facial recognition,' all of which allow investigators to have a picture of the scene before they actually step foot on the ground. 'Conceivably, a drone can speed to the site of a call much more quickly than a police vehicle, giving first responders more to work with, sooner in the call timeline. It could be a lifesaver in so many situations,' Levi said. Tech expert says there are privacy concerns Peel police specified in their statement that the drones 'will not be used for general surveillance or utilize facial recognition technology.' Despite this assertion from the police, Levi said that he has privacy concerns, As we've seen with Google Street View cars, the prospect of cameras and other sensors pointing every which way in a given neighbourhood opens up a host of privacy and data concerns," he said. 'Left unchecked, the potential for a RoboCop-type scenario built around unchecked state surveillance is certainly concerning.' In June 2023, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) wrote an open letter to the Hamilton Police Service demanding that 'they cease and desist using drones immediately.' The CCLA suggested at the time that 'drones hovering above large-scale events can chill protest and freedom of expression.'
CBC
07-08-2025
- Health
- CBC
Hospital boosts number of social workers responding to 911 calls with Essex County OPP
Social Sharing People experiencing mental health crises in areas of Essex County served by the OPP are now more likely to see a social worker — not just a police officer — when they call 911. Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH) says it has increased the number of social workers who can respond to 911 calls with police from one to three. The specialty hospital, which focuses on mental health care, previously had two social workers assigned to its Mental Health Response Units, said Kevin Matte, the director of outpatient mental health services at HDGH. Those units paired social workers with OPP officers, but they didn't respond to live calls, he said. Instead, they mostly handled referrals. Now all three of those officer-social worker pairings will be part of the new Essex County Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team, which responds to 911 calls. "Policing departments are seeing more 911 calls for mental health issues," Matte said. "So it's important for us to be able to kind of react to that and be able to support that increased call volume and allow us to have more availability of crisis workers on the road." The hospital has implemented a similar change to its partnership with the Windsor Police Service and almost doubled its volume, he said. But comparing Windsor to communities served by the OPP, such as Kingsville and Tecumseh, "isn't apples to apples." The change isn't just about increasing the volume of patients social workers see, he said. "It's targeted more to be person-centred because … if there's a call in Kingsville and a call in Tecumseh at the same time, it allows clinicians to attend both locations simultaneously, and it brings …. the care to people when they need it." HDGH has been partnering with the OPP for more than five years now, Matte said, and they've learned that it's important to be flexible to make services as accessible as possible.
CBS News
24-07-2025
- CBS News
Sean Grayson files new motion claiming self-defense in fatal shooting of Sonya Massey
The former Sangamon County deputy accused of killing Sonya Massey last year has filed a new motion claiming self-defense. Sean Grayson shot and killed Massey after responding to her 911 call, saying there was someone outside her house. Grayson's attorneys are now asking a judge to let them submit evidence that backs up the claim, including evidence of her state of mind and that she was known to be violent. His lawyers said that Massey had previously attacked a neighbor and had texted people that she was having mental issues before the shooting. Grayson shot her when she checked on a pot of boiling water in her own kitchen while saying, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus." Before Grayson was hired in Sangamon County, questions about his conduct were well-documented by other police agencies. However, those concerns were somehow never shared with the Sangamon County Sheriff's office during the hiring process.
CBC
22-07-2025
- CBC
Toronto police took over an hour to respond to brutal assault, victim says
Social Sharing A Toronto man who says he was the victim of a brutal assault last month says police and paramedics took over an hour to respond to multiple 911 calls, and in that time, another person was attacked. Peter Henry told CBC Toronto he was beaten on June 25 in the stairwell of the alternative housing building where he lives and works as the property manager. He says the assailant was the guest of a tenant and appeared to be on drugs. The attack left him with four broken ribs, a fractured shin bone and a dislocated shoulder, he says. He says he waited for police and paramedics for about 40 minutes before deciding to take a taxi to a nearby hospital. Police arrived at the building on Mutual Street, south of Gerrard Street E., about an hour after he left, he says. But by then, a witness told CBC Toronto that the attacker had already choked another tenant and bitten off part of his earlobe. "911 let us down… Toronto Police Services [has] let me down several times as a property manager. This is the worst," Henry said, sitting in a wheelchair. "This is really disturbing." The attack raises questions about the police's 911 response times and whether they can keep up with demand. As CBC Toronto has previously reported, the volume of 911 calls has grown substantially in recent years, and response times have gotten longer. To address the problem, police launched an upgrade to the system in a bid to eliminate calls that were bogging down the emergency line and vowed to hire more people. Still, delays in emergency response times persist. WATCH | 9 11 caller says he was left on hold for several minutes: Neighbours say they were on hold for several minutes while shooting victim was still alive 1 month ago "We're not protecting the most unprotected," Henry said. "That, to me, is a failure in the system." Busy night across the city, police say In an emailed statement to CBC Toronto, police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer confirmed that the first of nine calls to 911 concerning the attack was made at 5:42 p.m. Police got to the apartment at 7:17 p.m. Toronto police in the area and across the city were dealing with "an exceptionally high-volume evening," Sayer wrote. "Officers in 51 Division were actively responding to multiple priority emergency calls during that same period, including a person armed with a knife, a threat of suicide, an intimate partner assault, multiple wanted persons, a person in crisis, and an Echo-tier call requiring an immediate joint response from police, fire, and paramedics, among others," she said. An Echo-tier call is among the highest priority levels assigned to 911 calls. Shortly after officers arrived, they arrested a 32-year-old man with no fixed address, Sayer said, and confirmed there were two victims. One was assaulted inside the building, the other outside and both had serious but non-life threatening injuries. The suspect now faces nine charges, including aggravated assault, assault causing bodily harm and uttering death threats. Henry wonders if emergency responders would have arrived sooner had he said something different to the 911 dispatcher. "Maybe if I'd said 'There's weapons involved', they might have," he said. In the last year, the average police response time has fallen from 17 minutes to 13, Sayer said. Still, what happened that evening speaks to "real-time pressures faced by frontline officers responding to multiple high-priority emergencies in a large city like Toronto," she said. "We are reviewing the circumstances around this call." Toronto Paramedic Services is doing the same and also experienced more calls than usual that evening, spokesperson Jennifer Chung said in an email. 'The whole thing was just traumatizing' The ordeal began with complaints from residents about a man who didn't live there, Henry said. The first time Henry told him that he needed a resident escort to stay, everything was fine. But the second time he told the suspect to leave, he became violent, Henry said. The man chased him, kicked him down a set of stairs, punched and kicked him more as he lay on the ground, he said. "I was banging on the door with my one hand that was free and screaming for help," Henry recounted. Suddenly, the man left, and eventually, a resident found Henry and called 911, he said. If it wasn't for campus security at the nearby Toronto Metropolitan University jumping into action, the suspect wouldn't have been arrested, says Mark Jackson, a tenant who witnessed the incident and also serves as board president at Myrmex Non-Profit Housing Inc. But by the time campus police arrived just after 7 p.m., "it was too little, too late," because another person had been assaulted outside the building and other people were put in danger, Jackson said. He calls the police's response time 'unconscionable.' "It was absolutely horrendous, unacceptable and very potentially even more tragic than it was," he said. "The whole thing was just traumatizing and tragic." This isn't the first time the building has faced safety concerns, Henry and Jackson said, but Myrmex can't afford to hire security. Henry says he's hoping to talk to Mayor Olivia Chow about the issue and intends to make a formal complaint with the police. "I don't want anybody having to deal with this ever again," he said.
