How we communicate with our family and friends has changed dramatically over the years with the advent of the Smartphone. Thanks to this at-your-fingertips technology and its accessible apps, communicating with a loved one or friend can be as simple as sending a message. It could be by text, via social media tools like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter or on one of scores of available messaging apps.
While these are effective methods for contacting people you know, reporting a crime to the New Brunswick RCMP still requires a visit to a detachment or a phone call to the RCMP's Operational Communications Centre (OCC) – whether you dial 911 for an emergency, or make a call to your local detachment.
One of the tools we use to deliver information quickly to the people of New Brunswick is social media. With Facebook and Twitter (Facebook.com/RCMPNB, Facebook.com/GRCNB and @RCMPNB/@GRCNB on Twitter), we can reach the public in minutes. We appreciate your follows, shares and retweets, and it's been proven that your online activity of this nature helps us spread information to a wider audience.
Social media may appear to be a quicker way to reach out to the RCMP, but your attempts to report a crime on Facebook or Twitter can make reaching a complainant more difficult for us. One challenge with social media is that users can create accounts which do not always identify themselves. And while the New Brunswick RCMP's social media accounts are monitored during business hours, this is not done around the clock.
In 2017, the New Brunswick RCMP responded to more than 120,500 occurrences. Despite this high volume, there is someone available to answer 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Your calls are fielded by professional RCMP dispatchers, who are trained to ask relevant questions and provide guidance to help keep members of the public and our officers safe. This vital information can only be captured by having an operator talk directly with a caller. He or she documents the details of your call into an electronic file, which gets dispatched to a police officer patrolling in your area.
When you need to report a crime that is not an emergency, call your local detachment or at 1-888-506-RCMP (7267). You can also find numbers for all detachments in the province online at rcmp.ca/nb
Non-emergency situations, for which you are advised to call a detachment rather than 911, include following up on a complaint, a motor vehicle crash with no injuries, lost or stolen items, or if you believe you have been scammed or defrauded by phone or computer. Calling 911 for non-emergencies could result in a call – and possibly an emergency response – being delayed, and valuable resources tied up.
When calling the police, you will be asked your name, phone number, your location and that of the emergency you are calling about, as well as a brief description of what has happened or is unfolding.
During the call, please listen closely to questions and instructions from the RCMP dispatcher. Try to remain calm, be patient and answer an operator's questions the best that you can. This information will ensure the appropriate emergency services are dispatched.
If you dial 911 by accident, please don't hang up. We understand this can happen. When it does, we ask that you stay on the line and tell the operator you made a mistake. We don't know if you misdialled 911, or if something or someone disconnected the call, leaving you or someone else in potential danger.
Social media accounts should not be used to contact police in an emergency. Call 911 for emergencies. Dispatchers have access to police, fire and ambulance services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Use this number when someone is in imminent danger, such as suffering from a medical emergency, if there's a fire or you or someone else is a victim of a crime in progress.
Non-emergency complaints will also be addressed, and followed up with accordingly in a timely manner, but getting police services to those who need them urgently is the New Brunswick RCMP's highest priority.
Sgt. Chantal Farrah
Operations Manager
New Brunswick RCMP Operational Communications Centre