Almost half of 911 calls to Barrie police last year were non-emergencies

Barrie police said almost half of the 911 calls they received in 2025 were not considered emergencies.

Barrie police say they’ve seen an increase in calls to 911 that are either not real emergencies or accidental calls that result in hang-ups, and they are reminding the public of what qualifies as an emergency and what doesn’t.

In 2025, of the 36,539 calls police received to the emergency line, 17,325 did not qualify as emergencies. That’s 47 per cent - nearly half.

The accidental calls, police say, are often situations that involve pocket-dialing from a pocket or purse and children playing with their adults’ cell phones, pressing the emergency call feature.

If an accidental call is placed to 911, Barrie police say to stay on the line and inform the dispatcher that the call was a mistake. When people hang up, dispatchers have to call back or even send officers out to the location where the call came from to ensure everyone is indeed safe, something that takes up valuable time and resources.

What qualifies as an emergency?

Police are reminding the public of examples of situations that warrant a call to 911. Those include a crime in progress, someone’s life or safety in immediate danger, a fire or suspected fire, a serious collision that involves injuries or road hazards, or a person with a weapon or is an immediate threat to the public.

Police are also sharing examples of situations that are not emergencies. These include things like reporting a crime that already happened and is no longer in progress, noise and parking complaints, damage to property where no suspect is on scene, general questions or requests for information, and non-urgent neighbour arguments.

Barrie police are asking the public to call their non-emergency line at 705-725-7025 or use the online reporting tool as a way to report non-emergency incidents quickly and securely.

Police are reiterating to the public that 911 is a critical, life-saving service. It’s for incidents where people’s lives, safety or property are in immediate danger, police say. Using 911 for the correct reasons helps to make sure emergency resources are available for people who really need them.