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GlossaryReports, outcomes, and case status

Gone on arrival

Gone on arrival means the reported subject or condition was absent when responders arrived, under local coding rules. Learn what GOA can and cannot establish.

“Gone on arrival” is a local response outcome indicating that a reported person, vehicle, or condition was no longer present when responders arrived. It is commonly abbreviated GOA. The subject must be identified from the record. The label does not mean responders failed to arrive, nor does it establish that the original report was false.

Arrival and presence are separate facts

The phrase combines two ideas: responders reached a location, and the reported subject was not there. It does not explain what happened before their arrival or where the subject went. Additional notes may establish more, but the short label cannot supply those facts on its own.

San Francisco's dispatch documentation defines its GOA disposition specifically in terms of a suspect no longer at the scene upon arrival. That is a locally scoped explanation, not a requirement that every GOA entry in every jurisdiction concern a suspect. San Francisco disposition table

A code can also be attached to one resource's action or to the overall call outcome. Understanding that level helps avoid assigning one unit's observation to every participant in a response.

Example

Hypothetical example: A caller reports a delivery van blocking a driveway at 4:20 p.m. A responding officer reaches the address at 4:29 and finds the driveway clear. The local record says the van is gone on arrival.

The entry documents the officer's later observation. It does not establish when the van left, how long the driveway was obstructed, or whether a violation could be proved. It also does not show a canceled response: the officer did arrive in this example.

Common confusion

Canceled can indicate that an assignment stopped before arrival. GOA concerns what was present at arrival. They describe different response paths.

Unable to locate may concern unsuccessful efforts to find a subject, but local codebooks can overlap the terms. San Francisco's table gives closely related explanations for GOA and UTL, illustrating why a sharp national distinction would be misleading.

Unfounded is a separate determination under the relevant reporting rules. A subject's departure alone cannot establish that nothing happened.

Reading the chronology

Compare the call-received and arrival times, then read any narrative describing the subject's last known presence. A longer interval can allow conditions to change, but it does not prove why the subject left. When reporting totals, retain the local label and specify whether the count is calls, individual unit outcomes, or another record type. Do not translate a GOA count into false-report statistics.

Sources