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GlossaryDispatch and call records

Officer-initiated activity

Officer-initiated activity begins with an officer’s observation or action. Learn how it differs from public requests and affects call totals.

Officer-initiated activity is public-safety activity begun by an officer's observation or action rather than solely by an incoming request from the public. It may appear in dispatch records as “self-initiated” or “on-view” activity. Its inclusion in a calls-for-service file does not mean that someone called 911.

Why it appears in dispatch data

Dispatch systems help coordinate units as well as answer public requests. When an officer begins an activity in the field, recording it can identify the location, reason for the activity, and unit availability. The record's operational purpose explains why a file called “calls” can include events with no caller.

Seattle's public-records guide explicitly describes CAD events as either community-generated or officer-initiated, and says they can involve criminal or noncriminal activity. It also notes that not every event results in a report. Seattle's description of CAD records.

Possible examples include an officer observing a traffic hazard, initiating a traffic stop, or checking a location. These examples describe how an event begins. They do not establish whether the activity was enforcement, assistance, or an administrative task; those distinctions require additional fields.

Example

Hypothetical example: While traveling between assignments, an officer sees a large object obstructing a traffic lane. The officer notifies dispatch, which creates an on-view event, and remains while the obstruction is addressed. No member of the public called about it.

A monthly file includes that event among 1,000 activity records. Of those records, 700 are marked public-requested and 300 officer-initiated. The officer-initiated share is 300 ÷ 1,000 × 100, or 30 percent. The numerator and denominator both count event records for the same month, not telephone calls or officer-hours.

That percentage describes the file's activity mix. It does not mean officers spent 30 percent of their time on self-initiated work. A short vehicle check and a lengthy investigation each contribute one event unless the measure specifically accounts for duration.

Common confusion

Officer-initiated does not necessarily mean proactive crime enforcement. The event might be assistance or a hazard response. “Proactive policing” is a broader description of a policing approach; a start-source field is too limited to measure that approach by itself.

Public-requested does not mean emergency. Residents can request routine services. Likewise, an officer can discover an urgent situation without any public call.

On-view is not a statement of guilt. It identifies an activity recorded from the field. Any alleged offense, arrest, or court outcome must be established through the relevant record rather than inferred from the event's origin.

What changes the visible count

San Francisco's 2021 explainer distinguishes on-view records concerning suspected incidents from records documenting administrative tasks; the former are included in its described public release, while the latter are excluded. San Francisco dataset scope.

An agency that publishes administrative checks can therefore show a different activity mix from one that removes them. Staffing, assignment practices, and code changes can also affect the number of visible officer-initiated events. A higher count alone does not establish more crime, greater public demand, or better service.

For comparisons, identify the initiation field, eligible activity types, and whether records are counted by incident or unit. Keep unknown or missing initiation values visible instead of silently assigning them to the public-requested group. The resulting total should be described as the activity captured by that release, not all police work.

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