Team Effort Saves Woman in Crisis

What began as a call to an unused police line quickly became a race against time, with members of the Toronto Police Service's Real Time Operations Centre (RTOC) working together to locate a woman in crisis before it was too late.

Communications Operator Madison Turner-Bob immediately recognized that something was wrong when she answered the call.

“When the call came in, we quieted everyone down and focused on what was happening,” she recalled. “As I was speaking with her, I realized she was in crisis.”

During the conversation, the woman indicated she had ingested harmful substances and expressed thoughts of self-harm. It quickly became clear that her life could be in immediate danger.

Although the caller appeared unaware of who she was speaking to, she unintentionally provided investigators with valuable clues.

“She didn't realize who she had called,” said Turner-Bob, of the call that came into an unused divisional police line that is forwarded to the RTOC. “She dialed her birthday, which she said out loud to me."

That seemingly minor detail provided investigators with a date of birth that became the starting point for identifying her.

Working alongside the communications team, Detective Melanie Bedard and other investigative members immediately began searching available police databases and other investigative resources for information that could help identify and locate the woman.

A breakthrough came moments later.

Turner-Bob discovered that another person was calling 9-1-1 to report that a friend was in crisis and had made comments about wanting to harm herself. The names matched.

At the same time, one of the RTOC investigative officers learned from the second caller that the woman was staying at a short-term rental property.

The information was immediately relayed to officers from 51 Division, who were dispatched to the address with the intelligence gathered by the RTOC team.

“They were able to get all of the information that we had collected right away and use that as part of their search efforts to locate her,” said Bedard.

For officers on the ground, the behind-the-scenes investigative work significantly reduced the time needed to find critical information and get help to the woman in crisis.

“RTOC was behind the scenes, getting information that maybe would taken us hours to get, which saved us time and saved the person’s life,” said Constable Peter Katsaras of 51 Division, who was one of the officers responding to the call.

RTOC Detective Sergeant Todd Jocko said the time saved likely saved this woman’s life.

He said this incident demonstrates the value of having investigators and operational staff working side by side in the same location – which began in May this year.

“We were really looking for a needle in a haystack,” Jocko said. "Having the Real Time Operations Centre should reassure members of the Service that there is help and that we're working together to get things done quicker, more safely and to make sure people's lives are being saved.”

Bedard said the collaborative environment within the RTOC is one of its greatest strengths.

“The nice thing about working within the Real Time Operations Centre is that we're all in one big open space and can communicate with each other in real time,” she said. “Having our investigative side embedded with our operational side, working shoulder to shoulder, allows us to share information immediately, put the pieces of the puzzle together and provide officers on the road with the information they need as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

The coordinated response highlights how the integration of communications personnel, investigators and operational support enables the Toronto Police Service to respond more effectively to time-sensitive incidents where every minute can make a difference.