Ottawa police receive fewer false 9-1-1 calls in 2024

Ottawa Police headquarters on Elgin St. is seen in this undated photo. (CTV News Ottawa)

A drop in false 9-1-1 calls is being credited for a decline in calls for service to the Ottawa Police Service last year.

A report for the Ottawa Police Services Board shows police received 378,100 demands for service through calls and online reporting in 2024, down from 427,500 requests for service in 2023.

Staff say the decline was primarily driven by a reduction in false 9-1-1 calls, which were down by 49,400 calls in 2024 compared to the year before. Police have said an automatic SOS function in Android devices had caused abnormally high levels of 9-1-1 calls, and that was fixed in the final three months of 2023.

There was a five per cent reduction in false 9-1-1 calls in the final three months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

Ottawa police received 89,900 demands for service through both calls for service and online reporting in the October to December period, including 6,700 crime reports filed online.

Reports of shoplifting accounted for 38 per cent of all reports received online in the final three months of the year, according to police.

“In the fourth quarter of 2024, there was a reduction in shoplifting of 3 per cent compared to 2023 Q4,” police said. ”Other reports frequently received online include traffic complaints (10 per cent of Q4 online reports) as well as theft from vehicles (6 per cent), mischief to property (5 per cent), and theft under $5,000 (5 per cent).”