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WHAT ARE THESE
REPORTS OF "NEIGHBORHOOD CALLS FOR SERVICE"?
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CALLS, NOT CRIMES :
Neighborhood "Calls for Service Reports" (formerly and
incorrectly called Neighborhood
"Crime" Reports, a title that has caused confusion)
are NOT a list of "crimes"
that have occurred in the neighborhood. Instead, they are
a list of the "calls for service" or "dispatched police calls" reflecting
each time someone called the police for service.
In most areas, 100 "calls for service" will result in an
officer taking approximately 10 "offense reports" for serious
crimes (UCR Part I Crimes: Homicide, Sexual Assault, Robbery, Assault, Burglary,
Theft, Vehicle Theft), and another 10-20 reports for crimes
such as graffiti, gambling, curfew violations, etc. The
remaining calls are usually for non-crime issues,
such as false burglar alarms, cat-in-tree, police assisting
public, information requests, and so on.
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CALLS ARE TITLED AS DISPATCHED :
Calls are titled
as they are called in and dispatched.
For example, a call may be dispatched as a "robbery", as
called in by a citizen, but later the
officer finds it is a "burglary." This would be listed in
the Calls for Service report as a "robbery"
(how it was called in and
dispatched, even though it was actually a burglary).
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MULTIPLE CALLS :
Multiple listings
do not always mean multiple crimes. A Neighborhood
Report may list three "robberies" at the same
location, same date, same time. In fact, there may only have been
one robbery, but three separate calls to the
police reporting it.
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MISCELLANEOUS CALLS :
Many calls are isted as "miscellaneous." These could
be any of the following:
Caller did not describe specific crime; just wanted
the police.
Traffic calls or stops.
Calls for loud music or general disturbance.
Really miscellaneous calls (barking dog, trash in road,
etc., etc
)
Also: Sexual assault calls are not specifically listed
(because calls are listed by specific addresses).
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DATE LISTS AVAILABLE :
PLEASE NOTE: Data
for the Neighborhood Calls for Service Reports is updated on the SAPD
Internet Homepage by the 5th of each month. (Your neighborhood's
report for January, 2010 is available by FEBRUARY 5th, 2010.)
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