Burnaby, BC – The City of Burnaby is taking action to improve response times and service to residents by creating a new Non-Emergency Call Centre for policing calls, based out of the Burnaby RCMP detachment.
Today, both emergency and non-emergency calls go through E-Comm, the 911 service and dispatch agency that serves many communities across Metro Vancouver and British Columbia. Callers to E-Comm’s non-emergency line for Burnaby frequently encounter excessive wait times, according to data from E-Comm, the agency that currently takes these calls. In 2022, an estimated 21,731 calls to the non-emergency line were abandoned – more than half of all non-emergency calls received.
“When someone calls a non-emergency line they deserve to have their concerns addressed in a timely manner,” said Mayor Mike Hurley. “Reducing wait times will serve residents better and improve community safety, and by offering this service in-house we will gain the benefits that come through increased connections between our staff and residents.”
This spring, the City will assume responsibility for non-emergency calls between 9 am and 9 pm, when most of these calls occur, establishing a call centre at the Burnaby RCMP detachment. E-Comm will continue to take non-emergency calls overnight, and will continue to take emergency calls, and to handle dispatch for both emergency and non-emergency calls.
The City expects to launch the Non-Emergency Call Centre this spring. Set up costs are anticipated to be a one-time start-up cost of approximately $125,000, with annual operating costs approximately $475,000. The City anticipates achieving cost savings when it renews its contract with E-Comm at the end of 2023.
The transition of non-emergency call service will offer the City an opportunity to evaluate its long-term goal to establish a City Operational Call Centre that can handle all calls for police and fire, as well as general City calls.
Media Contact:
Chris Bryan
Manager, Public Affairs
Public Affairs Office
604-570-3616 | [email protected]