Thankfully, a weapons call for Barrie police to attend a home in the city's south end was not the real deal.
However, Barrie police communications coordinator Peter Leon pointed out that when false, it can compromise the response by police to legitimate calls for service in the community.
Leon was able to confirm that firefighters ended up at the same address soon after because of a call about a structure fire at the Churchland Drive residence, which was also fake.
Due to the ongoing investigation, he was not able to get into the specifics if anyone was at the residence when police got there.
"If police are able to determine where the information originated from, that is something that can be dealt with criminally, and it is a charge of mischief under the Criminal Code of Canada" Leon explained. "It's a very serious offence when somebody makes a false report to emergency services, police included."
The initial call to police brought out a response that would have been expected until officers were able to determine what was actually going on.
"I think it's important for the public to remember that police respond to calls for service and deploy the necessary resources to deal with the situation based up on the information that is received by our call takers at our communications centre," said Leon. "But it doesn't end there. We need to determine why this happened, and if possible, hold a person accountable for their actions."
Banner image: Michael Chorney
