This report is updated by the first business day after the 5th of the month.
Introduction to Calls for Service
Calls for service statistics are used to indicate the level of police activity in a defined area during a specific timeframe. Calls for service can be divided between dispatched calls and self-initiated/directed calls. Dispatched calls are calls for police assistance that are generated by the community, through a call or text to 911 or the non-emergency line (503-823-3333). Self-initiated and directed calls are officer-initiated calls for service, which can be initiated in-person or scheduled in advance to proactively address a community issue. The Portland Police Bureau counts all calls for service where at least one Portland Police officer was dispatched or self-initiated a call. The calls are primarily dispatched to locations within the City of Portland but also include calls where an officer assisted another agency, however calls outside of Portland's jurisdiction are excluded. The Portland Police Bureau’s calls for service statistics focus on total police response and differ from the numbers provided by the Bureau of Emergency Communications (BOEC).
Call Priority Level
When a call for service is received by a dispatcher at BOEC, it is assigned a priority level based on the severity of the incident and is used to prioritize the police response. A call for service can be escalated to a higher priority before being cleared if the nature of the incident changes and more police units are necessary.
| Priority Level | Definition |
|---|---|
| High | In-progress events where persons or high-value property are in immediate danger. Requires a multiple unit response. |
| Medium | In-progress events without an immediate danger to persons or property. Multiple units may be necessary for these calls. |
| Low | Events that may no longer be in-progress, so immediate response is not as urgent. Generally requires a single unit. |
Call Groups
Each call for service is assigned a call type by the dispatcher based on the preliminary nature of the call. The Dispatched Calls for Service Dashboard presents statistics and information about the final call type of incidents in the City of Portland. Call types are assigned based on the initial circumstances presented to the dispatcher and may not be a reflection of the full nature of the call. The call types are categorized into one of eight call groups for reporting purposes. These generalized groupings are intended to simplify analysis. Definitions of call types are presented in the table below.
Please note that calls in all groupings, not just the "Crime" group, can result in a reported crime. Call types in the "Crime" grouping generally describe a reportable offense, but do not always resulted in a reported crime. Calls in the "Civil" grouping are generally related to non-criminal matters, but can also result in a reported crime. Call types in the "Disorder" grouping can be used to describe events that are not easy to categorize as criminal or civil based on the call data alone. These call types may not be descriptive of the potential type of crime, but rather a description of the location (e.g. "School Incident", "TriMet"), people involved (e.g. "Juvenile Problem"), or situation that may or may not be related to crime (e.g. "Suspicious", "Disturbance", "Unwanted Person"). All additional call groupings may also result in a reported crime.
The final call type is categorized into one of eight call groups for reporting purposes:
| Call Grouping | Call Categories | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Alarm | Calls initiated by the activation of an audible, silent, duress, and/or monitored alarm of a vehicle, residence, business, or other premise. Only contains a single call category. | |
| Assist | Calls to provide assistance to medical or fire first-responders and other partner agencies. | |
| Assist | Calls to provide assistance to partner agencies, including Portland Fire and Rescue, American Medical Response (AMR), and other law-enforcement agencies. | |
| Warrant | Calls to assist in the service of a warrant. | |
| Civil | Calls related to non-criminal matters where police presence is requested to ensure the situation does not escalate. | |
| Behavioral | Calls related to behavioral health, including crisis response, suicide attempts or threats, and transports to detox. | |
| Civil | Calls related to private disputes where police presence may be necessary to ensure the safety of involved parties, including child custody issues, evictions, service of papers, etc. | |
| Missing Persons | Calls to take reports of missing or endangered persons. | |
| Community Policing | Contacts with the community, such as dropping off food baskets and attending school events and community meetings. Only contains a single call category. | |
| Crime | Calls related to activity that may be defined as criminal. | |
| Abuse | Calls related to the act of willful harm to a child, elderly person, or a person who is mentally and/or physically incapacitated. Includes instances of abandonment and neglect. | |
| Arson | Calls related to the deliberate setting of a fire. | |
| Assault | Calls related to the unlawful attack by one person upon another. Includes stabbings, shootings, and other types of assault. | |
| Burglary | Calls related to the unlawful entry into a building or other structure with the intent to commit a theft. Includes residential and commercial burglaries. | |
| Domestic Violence | Calls related to disturbances or assaults involving adult members of a domestic relationship. | |
| Escape/Pursuit | Calls related to subjects who have escaped custody or the pursuit of a subject avoiding custody. | |
| Fraud | Calls related to the use of deceit to induce an entity to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right. | |
| Harassment | Calls related to reports of being the subject of ongoing unwanted contacts. | |
| Kidnap | Calls related to the unlawful seizure, transportation, and/or detention of a person against their will or of a minor without the consent of their custodial parent(s) or legal guardian. | |
| Restraining Order Violation | Calls related to a person not following the conditions of a valid court order to not have contact with parties. | |
| Robbery | Calls related to the taking or attempt to take anything of value from the control, custody, or care of another person by force or intimidation. | |
| Sex Offense | Calls related to any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent or reports of unlawful, non-forcible sexual intercourse. | |
| Stolen Vehicle | Calls related to the theft of a motor vehicle. | |
| Theft | Calls related to the unlawful taking of property from the possession of another entity. | |
| Threat | Calls related to the placing of another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of words or other conduct. | |
| Vandalism | Calls related to the willful or malicious destruction, damage, defacement, or otherwise injury of real or personal property without the consent of the owner or the person having custody or control of it. | |
| Vice | Calls related to drug/narcotic violations, liquor law violations, illegal gambling, and/or prostitution. | |
| Disorder | Calls related to disturbances or other problems that require a police response to assess and resolve the situation. | |
| Animal Problem | Calls related to animals that are either in danger or pose an immediate threat to the public. | |
| Area/ Premise Check | Calls related to requests to check a specific location for potential problems or to make sure the site is secure. | |
| Disorder | Calls related to generalized disorder. | |
| Disturbance | Calls related to non-specific reports of a threat to public peace or safety. | |
| Fireworks | Calls related to illegal, hazardous, or noisy fireworks. | |
| Illegal Dumping | Calls related to trash. | |
| Juvenile Problem | Calls related to disturbances that specifically involve juveniles. | |
| Parking Problem | Calls related to illegal or hazardous parking. | |
| School Incident | Calls related to disturbances involving students or occurring at a school. | |
| Shots Fired | Calls related to reports of hearing gun shots with no indication of a victim. | |
| Subject Stop | Calls related to contacts with persons of interest. | |
| Suspicious | Calls related to reports of suspicious persons, vehicles, or circumstances. | |
| TriMet | Calls related to public transportation. | |
| Unwanted Person | Calls related to subjects refusing to leave a location when asked. | |
| Welfare Check | Calls related to requests to check on the health or safety of a subject. | |
| Traffic | Calls related to motor vehicle traffic including collisions, road hazards, and impaired drivers. | |
| Collision | Calls related to reports of traffic collisions. | |
| DUII | Calls related to reports of a driver under the influence of intoxicants. | |
| Hazard | Calls related to an object or condition that is a danger to traffic safety. | |
| Traffic Stop | Calls related to the enforcement of traffic laws. | |
| Other | Calls that do not fall under other categories. Includes follow-up activities for prior calls and events and administrative activities. | |
| Admin | Calls related to administrative tasks. | |
| Follow Up | Activities where an officer, detective, or other Bureau member is following-up a prior call, incident, or event. | |
| Other | Incidents or events that do not represent a danger or concern to the community. | |
Police Response Time
Response time is the amount of time, in minutes, that it takes the first officer to arrive on-scene once the dispatcher places the call in the police dispatch queue. Response times are not calculated for calls that remain in the police dispatch queue for more than fourteen hours after being received or require more than three hours for an officer to arrive on-scene. Both situations are usually the result of an atypical dispatched call or missing data.
In August 2020, a review of response times was conducted and a modification to the parameters on amount of time calls remain in the dispatch queue was made. Previously, four hours was the threshold, however this parameter was adjusted to fourteen hours to account for recent trends in dispatched call response times.
Dashboard Walkthrough
1. Report Overview
The Dispatched Call Statistics Report is an interactive data visualization of the 9-1-1 and non-emergency calls responded to by the Portland Police Bureau. This tool is built to provide custom analyses of call data to interested members of the community, especially as it relates to Portland neighborhoods.
The data used in this report is collected by the Bureau of Emergency Communications (BOEC) and sourced from the PPB's record management system, RegJIN. The data is a record of community-generated 9-1-1 and non-emergency public safety calls requiring a police response. Calls are included in the dashboard when at least one PPB officer is dispatched by BOEC to respond to the scene.
2. Technical Specifications
The report has been customized to work on personal computers, smart phones and tablets. For the best experience, it is recommended you use a desktop or laptop computer.
No additional software is required to use this report. The report runs completely within the internet browser using JavaScript. Most modern browsers automatically activate JavaScript; however, it can be turned off based on the security settings of the computer. For more information on activating JavaScript, refer to the browser’s help section or click here for help on Windows computers and click here for help on Apple computers.
3. Visualization Walkthrough
The Dispatched Calls Statistics Report is an interactive data visualization. This interactivity allows users to filter the information based on the questions they are hoping to answer with this dataset. An overview of the pre-built filters is included below.
a. Dropdown Filters (single-select) - Priority Call Filter (example)
The Priority of Call Filter is divided into three categories: High, Medium, and Low. To change the views, click the dropdown box and select the corresponding call priority you wish to view. All subsequent visuals will update accordingly. To remove the filer, either hover over the top-right corner of the filter and click the "Show All Values" button or click the dropdown again and select "(All)".
b. Dropdown Filters (multi-select) - Neighborhood Filter (example)
The Neighborhood Filter lists all neighborhoods in the City of Portland. To filter the visualizations by neighborhood, click the down arrow to the right of "(All)". You can either type in the neighborhood you are searching for in the "Enter search text" box or use the scroll bar to find the relevant neighborhood. To unselect all neighborhoods, click the checkmark to the left of "(All)" and then select the neighborhood you are interested in. Once you have made your selection, click on the "Apply" button at the bottom of the dropdown box.
If you are unsure which neighborhood you are interested in, locate your neighborhood on PortlandMaps.com.
TIP: To quickly view all neighborhoods again, click the "(All)" box and the click "Apply".
c. Tab 1 - Dispatched Calls for Service
Call Count represents the total number of dispatched calls for the selected time period. All visuals are interactive and will update when clicked and/or filtered upon.
d. Maps
The Maps an outline all Portland neighborhoods using the Portland Police Bureau boundaries. The maps dynamically update based on selected filters. Darker colors indicate that a greater number of calls occurred during the time period. The minimum and maximum values on the color scale adjust based on the other filters. Hover the mouse cursor over a shape to get basic information about that neighborhood, including its name and its respective number of dispatched calls in a pop-up.
The maps can also be used to filter results on other visuals. To filter statistics by neighborhood, select the neighborhood on the map. Multiple neighborhoods can be selected by dragging the mouse when clicking or holding down the CTRL button on the keyboard when clicking the neighborhoods.
TIP: To reset the selected neighborhoods, click one of the highlighted neighborhoods to deselect, or click outside of the map boundaries to deselect everything.
e. Tab 2 - Response Times
The second tab includes data related to response, queue, and travel times. Time in queue measures the amount of time a call sits in the call queue before a unit is dispatched. Travel time measures the time from dispatch to the time the first unit arrives on-scene. Response time is a combination of the two: from the time a call gets put into the queue to the time the first officer arrives on-scene
f. Tab 3 - Fiscal Year Dispatches
This tab contains data from the previous two tabs, but visualized by fiscal year, which runs from July 1 - June 30 annually. This tab also includes the additional data filters for Call Group and Call Category.
g. Toolbar
The toolbar, located at the bottom of the visualization, contains several buttons that allow for downloading the visuals in PDF or image formats.
The “Undo” and “Redo” buttons become active when the above filters are applied to the report. They operate just like the Undo and Redo buttons in other programs such as Microsoft Word.
The “Reset” button reverts all filters back to their original setting when you first visited the page. This is a great way to start with a “clean slate” after clicking several filters.
Tableau is the name of the software used to create this report visualization.
The “Download” button allows users to save a static version of the visualization. This option is great for printing out copies of the map to share at meetings or to include in a presentation.
“Get the App” takes you to a download page to acquire a Free Trial of Tableau Desktop. This is not necessary, or recommended, to fully analyze and view the report.
“PDF” allows users to export the report, with all of the filters you set, as a PDF. The options dialogue allows custom scaling and paper size options. When choosing to export as PDF, make sure to keep the layout as portrait and content as “this dashboard.”
The "Crosstab" and "Data" options are unavailable, but data downloads can be accessed on Tab 4.
“Image” creates a .png file of the report with all of the selected filters.
h. Download Data
The Portland Police Bureau is a proud member of the Police Data Initiative. Open Data provides an opportunity to improve the relationship between the community and the PPB by increasing transparency, building community trust, and strengthening accountability.
The Download Data tab (Tab 4) of this report was custom-built to meet the Bureau’s Open Data goals. To download a copy of the data for custom analyses and presentation, click on one of the hyperlinks and follow the on-screen prompts.
Note: Location data is only provided to the block level to preserve victim anonymity. Calls deemed sensitive due to the nature of the call, potential victim or offender, potential victim/offender relationship, or investigation status may contain data that cannot be shared openly at this time. Call numbers and specific location information for sensitive cases are not included in the open data. These call numbers are signified with an “X” in their title.
Metadata for Dispatched Calls Open Data
Calls deemed sensitive due to the nature of the incident, potential suspect or offender, potential victim/offender relationship, or investigation status may contain data that cannot be shared openly at this time. Specific location information for sensitive cases are not included in the open data.
| Field Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Call Number | Call identification number (randomly generated and assigned to anonymize call data). |
| Report Month Year | The Month and Year the call was placed in the police dispatch queue. |
| Report Date Time | The date and time the call was placed in the police dispatch queue. To protect the identity of victims and other privacy concerns, the date/time of certain call types are not released. |
| Time in Queue | Total seconds the call waited in the police dispatch queue before an officer was dispatched to the scene. |
| Travel Time | Total seconds for an an officer to arrive on-scene after being dispatched. |
| Response Time | Total seconds between a call being placed in the police dispatch queue and the first officer arriving on-scene. Time in Queue + Travel Time. |
| Priority | The priority level that is based on the severity of the incident and used to prioritize the police response. This field is a grouping of PriorityNumber. |
| PriorityNumber | The priority level that is based on the severity of the incident and used to prioritize the police response (e.g., 1 = most severe, 9 = least severe). |
| Final Call Group | The classification of the call based on nine call groupings that broadly define the final nature of the call for service. |
| Final Call Category | A more-specific categorization of the final grouping used to define the final nature of the call for service. |
| Neighborhood | Neighborhood where incident occurred. If the neighborhood name is missing, the incident occurred outside of the boundaries of the Portland neighborhoods or at a location that could not be assigned to a specific address in the system (e.g., Portland, near Washington Park, on the streetcar, etc.). Note: Neighborhood boundaries and designations vary slightly from those found on the Office of Community & Civic Life website. |
| Address | Address of reported call at the 100 block level (e.g.: 1111 SW 2nd Ave would be 1100 Block SW 2nd Ave). To protect the identity of victims and other privacy concerns, the points of certain call types are not released. |
| Open Data X / Y | Generalized XY point of the reported call. For calls that occurred at a specific address, the point is mapped to the block's midpoint. Offenses that occurred at an intersection are mapped to the intersection centroid. To protect the identity of victims and other privacy concerns, the points of certain call types are not released. XY points use the Oregon State Plane North (3601), NAD83 HARN, US International Feet coordinate system. |
| Open Data Lat / Lon | Generalized Latitude / Longitude of the reported call. For calls that occurred at a specific address, the point is mapped to the block's midpoint. Calls that occurred at an intersection are mapped to the intersection centroid. To protect the identity of victims and other privacy concerns, the points of certain call types are not released. |