Police release audio of Whitby resident calling 911 to complain about sirens

Police in Durham Region released audio Wednesday of a 911 call made by a Whitby resident who complained about sirens to highlight the inappropriate use of the emergency number.

In the audio, the resident, whose voice was altered for privacy reasons, tells the 911 operator that sirens are going off "like every hour" before asking if everything is okay.

The operator replies that because it’s the weekend, there is a higher frequency of emergency calls.

"I can't tell you what's going on, but, I mean, there's no risk into the area that you're in right now," the 911 operator says. "It's busy. Durham Region has expanded so much."

The resident then informs the operator that he is making a complaint, saying he grew up in the area and has never heard sirens "like this."

"It's ridiculous. Unless there's a lot of crime going on, I don't know what you guys are doing, but it's a bit of a disturbance, to be honest," the resident says.

The operator tells him that sirens are activated for a reason and that police are probably responding to emergencies such as car accidents.

"They don't just turn them on for no reason," the 911 operator says.

The resident complains that he hears sirens in the evening and in the morning in his "very safe" neighbourhood, saying, "We're not in Chicago, we're not in the Bronx."

"To me, it just seems like the cops can maybe do a bit of a better job of not disturbing the peace," the resident says.

The operator repeated that police have to have their sirens on during emergencies before advising the resident to contact the non-emergency number so he could speak to a staff sergeant about his complaint.

"I would love to do that," the resident replies before the call ends.

In the social media post accompanying the audio, Durham police said 911 is for life and death emergencies and "not this," referring to the call

They added that their communicators answer more than 600 calls per day and reiterated that Durham residents who do not have a life-and-death emergencies should call the non-emergency number, 905-579-1520.

Police across the Greater Toronto Area have been releasing audio of 911 calls where the emergency line is misused to raise awareness of the issue.

In 2022, Durham police released a list of inappropriate non-emergency 911 calls from the previous year, including someone complaining about the long drive-thru line at a Taco Bell, finding the Wi-Fi password, and a cat getting out of the house and stuck in a tree.