If you want to report a crime progress in Thompson, you can’t just dial 911 – except from a cell phone. You have to punch in 204-677-6911.
But despite it looking like a local number, that call will not be going to the Thompson RCMP detachment, but to the RCMP’s Winnipeg dispatch centre.
“All calls for the RCMP in Manitoba are dispatched from this location,” said RCMP Manitoba media relations officer Sgt. Paul Manaigre, who was unable provide the number of dispatchers working there at any given time, since it varies according to need.
That dispatch centre was created back in 1995 with the help of a $3.6 million contribution from the provincial government. Then Thompson mayor Bill Comaskey lobbied for the RCMP to establish a dispatch centre in Thompson to serve communities throughout the province’s north, but the force opted for a centralized location in Winnipeg.
The province-wide enhanced 911 emergency call system began in Brandon at the outset of 1997, later expanding to other communities, and today covers a large number of southern municipalities, as well as several in the north, including Flin Flon, The Pas, Lynn Lake, Leaf Rapids, Churchill, Snow Lake, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Moose Lake and Wabowden. Participating municipalities pay a fee to the City of Brandon, which operates the 911 system out of its fire hall, to cover its costs. In 2019, that fee will be $4.34 per person, with populations based the Manitoba Municipal Officials Guide and the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada profiles, says a City of Brandon spokesperson. Given Thompson’s population of approximately 13,000, the 2019 fee for being part of the 911 system would be about $56,000.
The 911 service also covers calls for ambulances and fire departments in participating municipalities. In 2017, the Provincial E-9-1-1 Centre in Brandon created a total of 106,866 events in its system for service, though some required multiple calls to complete.
Two to three staff are on duty taking calls at the centre 24 hours a day, with three additional separate staff dedicated to taking calls and dispatching officers from the Brandon Police Services and five other municipal or city police forces in Manitoba.
Medical calls are transferred to the Medical Transportation Co-ordination Centre, located in the Brandon Regional Health Centre and established in 2005 by the provincial government of the day.
The 911 centre also dispatches fire departments for 200-plus municipalities and First Nations throughout Manitoba. For communities that have 911 service, calls to RCMP go to the 911 centre first and are then transferred to the RCMP dispatch centre in Winnipeg.
“Sometimes there is queue and we are required to wait with the caller on the line,” said the City of Brandon spokesperson.
Calls to Thompson Fire & Emergency Services (TFES) emergency line at 204-677-7911 are answered by a dispatcher at the Thompson fire hall, who sends emergency crews to the scene and then transfers medical emergencies to the Medical Transportation Co-ordination Centre with additional information. Fire calls are handled locally, the City of Thompson clarified in a Sept. 17 press release.
“The installation of a 911 systems across the province is co-ordinated by the Province of Manitoba,” said the city. “The infrastructure required for a 911 system is not currently in place to connect Thompson to the network.”
According to the city of Brandon, to become part of the 911 system, municipalities must enter into a system with them and BellMTS.
“This service also includes call-taking for fire-related calls and dispatching of fire resources requiring the local fire department to have radios compatible with the FleetNet system,” said the Brandon spokesperson. “We will ask for specific information from the fire department regarding area mapping and mutual aid agreements for their area. Bell MTS will work toward connecting 9-1-1 to the area and Brandon will add all the mapping and procedure data to the CAD system and operating guidelines.”
In response to a question during the general inquiries portion of the Sept. 17 council meeting, Thompson Mayor Dennis Fenske said it is not physically possible to have 911 service in Thompson because the infrastructure in Northern Manitoba is not in place.
