Lower-priority police calls can mean three-hour waits in Prince Albert

If the situation isn’t urgent, the head of Prince Albert’s municipal police force said residents will likely have to wait a while before a police officer arrives after a call.

In August, police responded to the most serious calls across the city within minutes, while the lowest-priority calls requiring attendance took roughly two to three hours, according to police chief Patrick Nogier.

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He explained that the police service ranks calls on a scale from one to six, with Priority 1 representing the most urgent incidents. Priority 6 calls generally involve information being provided to officers and do not necessarily require police attendance.

Priority 1 calls involve an immediate risk of death, serious injury or significant structural or property damage. In August, officers typically reached those calls within four to seven minutes, Nogier said.

“We want to make sure the public knows that when those times of need really come in, our officers are responding to those calls appropriately,” he said.

Calls ranked from Priority 1 to Priority 3 require officers to attend and can also involve considerable follow-up work. Nogier said officers cannot necessarily leave after stabilizing a situation because they may need to remain at the scene, gather evidence, interview people and complete other work associated with the file.

That can affect how quickly officers become available for less urgent complaints.

For Priority 5 calls, where there is no immediate need for officers to attend, Nogier said residents were generally waiting a few hours in August.

“I know that’s difficult for the public to hear, that there’s a two-and-a-half, three-hour window before they’ll see the police officer,” he said.

The ranking does not mean police automatically delay a lower-priority call for a set period. Nogier said officers will attend sooner when they are available, but urgent incidents take precedence.

“Predominantly, people can anticipate that it’s going to take probably three hours before we get there,” he said.

Residents may also be offered alternatives, such as the police service’s alternative call response program or online crime reporting. Those reports can take one or two days before an officer reviews the information and contacts the complainant.

Nogier said patrol officers are assigned to zones, but can be moved throughout Prince Albert when a serious call arises. The relatively small geographic size of the city helps, although construction, traffic and the location of available officers can all increase response times.

The service also examines response times by day of the week. Nogier said lower-priority calls tend to take longer on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, because police appear to be busier on those nights.

Nogier did not have figures available to compare Prince Albert’s response times with those in other communities. There is no standardized national benchmark for non-emergency police response, because services use different priority definitions and reporting methods.

“We’ll continue to monitor it,” Nogier said. “If we see a dipping below things that we’re comfortable with, we’ll have to make some adjustments.”