Non-emergencies make up 40% of 911 calls

Edmonton Police say too many people are calling 911 for non-emergencies.

"We can have people callling us that want to know how to cook a turkey, or around tax time, they want information on how to do their taxes," said 911 supervisor Kim Pudde.

Police estimate that 40 per cent of the 1,000 calls received by 911 operators each day are not emergencies.

"It's a lot of wasted resources with us, looking for people that have called 911 when they really don't need help," said Const. Mike Rott. "It's extremely frustrating."

Not all non-emergency 911 calls are frivolous. Situations like a vehicle collision without injuries require police attention but they just aren't emergencies.

That's why police have created a new #377 number that people can use to reach the non-emergency line from their cell phones.

They can still dial the regular 780-423-4567 number as well.