Unable to locate

“Unable to locate” is a local disposition indicating that responders did not find the person, vehicle, place, or reported condition they were seeking. It is often abbreviated UTL. The record must establish what was sought and when. The label does not prove that the reported event never happened or that the caller gave false information.

The outcome of a particular effort

A response occurs after the initial report, often with incomplete location or descriptive information. A person or vehicle can move, a condition can stop, and a reported location can be imprecise. The disposition summarizes what staff were able to find during that response, rather than resolving every question about the original report.

Henrico County lists “Unable to Locate” as its own CAD disposition. San Francisco's explainer also lists the term, but uses a locally specific explanation concerning a suspect no longer at the scene. These sources show why the intended object should be checked rather than supplied from a generic acronym list. Henrico code reference, San Francisco disposition table

Example

Hypothetical example: A motorist reports a ladder lying near a highway exit. A unit checks the reported exit and nearby roadway but does not find it. The event is coded unable to locate, with the search area described in the notes.

That record supports saying the unit did not find the ladder during the documented check. It does not establish whether another person removed it, the caller named the wrong exit, or the object was never there. Choosing one explanation would go beyond the evidence.

Common confusion

Gone on arrival can imply that a reported person or condition was no longer present when responders reached the location. Unable to locate emphasizes failure to find the specified subject. Some agencies overlap these meanings or explain them similarly; preserve the local distinction rather than imposing a national one.

An unfounded report is a different classification requiring its own criteria. Not finding a subject is not automatically a determination that no offense occurred. Nor does UTL necessarily describe the status of an ongoing missing-person investigation.

Reading the limits

Look for the object of the search, location, time, and follow-up notes. A single UTL outcome should not be described as a complete search history. For analysis, state that the measure counts calls with that local disposition and whether later recoding is included. A missing subject in one dispatch response and a later report about that subject can both be accurate.

Related terms

• Gone on arrival
• Disposition
• Dispatch narrative
• Unfounded report

Sources

• Henrico County Police — CAD Webservice Documentation: named local inability-to-locate disposition.
• San Francisco Digital Services — Law Enforcement Dispatched Calls for Service, disposition table: narrower local explanation and context-dependent code meanings.