City phasing in next-generation 911 service

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This article was published 06/03/2020 (2147 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For decades, dialing 911 and speaking with an operator has been the standard way to call for help. Winnipeg police are now preparing for the day when people can send for help by text message or video as well.

With the proliferation of mobile devices capable of transmitting photo, video and text messages, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has directed telecommunications companies within Canada to upgrade their networks to allow people to access next-generation 911 services (NG9-1-1) and to leverage the capability of smartphones.

Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth said Friday the current 911 system will be “unplugged and put to bed” by 2023.

City police have begun preparing a phased approach to adopt the federally mandated NG9-1-1 service within three years, beginning with the ability to receive emergency requests over text message by the end of the 2020.

“It becomes a very digital system, requiring a lot of upgrades and a lot of co-ordination with government, frankly the province, in terms of infrastructure,” Smyth said.

“By 2023, when people call 911 they should be able to text, send pictures, send video; it will be a multimedia type of platform and it will be a very different thing to manage.”

Smyth said the WPS is an early adopter of the system and has budgeted for the required communications changes.

The police service will also bring in more technology this year and begin operating a drone unit, Smyth said.

Last year, the WPS purchased three remote-controlled observation devices through the proceeds of crime fund, and has developed its own program to run a drone operations unit. The three new drones will be used for collision reconstruction, crime scene analysis and tactical surveillance, Smyth said.

The service first employed a drone in February 2017, while investigating the murder of Winnipeg Transit bus operator Irvine Jubal Fraser, Smyth said. Winnipeg police borrowed a drone from the Manitoba RCMP and performed a grid search of the frozen Red River.

The drones can also be used in tactical situations when executing a search warrant or when it is unsafe or difficult for officers to get close to a crime scene, he said.

“In a situation like that, we might be several hundred metres back, where we could send in a drone just to get a lay of the land and an aerial perspective of what they’re going to do tactically,” Smyth said.