So however your department is set up, how many dispatched calls for service do you average a shift? No self-initiated activity just dispatch generated calls for service.  Just you, (not the entire precinct/department) in whatever precinct/ patrol district you are covering.

8 hour shifts here.  Have been averaging probably 10-15 calls a shift for while now.

8 hours shifts. 20+ in summer, 10-15 in winter.
My high was 36, two of which were shootings.

Last summer we were all usually 20+.  Thankfully they reallocated some resources this year to drop that number down and more people on shift means we have stayed at about our winter call averages.  Very thankful for that.

When I became a police officer a radio car in the summer averaged 10 to 15 calls for service in the summer, in the winter maybe 5.

When I retired radio cars averaged 25 and more in the summer, the same in the winter, and nobody could get a day off, other than RDO, due to restructuring.

It depends on the shift for us. Afternoons will be 15+ and nights will be a crapshoot, sometimes none and sometimes 10+ depending time of year, weather, day of the week.

My old partner called me recently and told me when they started their shift dispatch was holding over 110 calls.

I picked 1-2. Not uncommon here to get no calls for a weekend shift. At least when I work.

Our road guys will average about 15-20 a 12hours shift in the summer and about 10 in the winter. Hell I'm a shift supervisor and I have taken 5 today already. We are a busy little town.

J-

Edit: we are 4.5 sq/miles and about 30k population not including the college.

Im in a special operations unit which are proactive only until requested (its a given that we respond to a violent felony in progress if we are working). And I still usually shag 1-3 dispatched calls on an average or slow day

I've worked both the FD and the PD. there were times I never got a call and then there were times when I got my fist call at shift change and didn't get back till the next mornings shift change.

Averaging 4 per shift this year.  10 hour shifts, which by the way are the best thing ever!

Depends on shift, day of week and time of year.
This time of year maybe 8-10 a shift at the FT job

yesterday I only ran on two in a 12 hours shift. First one was a fatal hit and run drunk driver (got him) and I shit you not as soon as I cleared that one we were dispatched on a homicide. Yesterday SUCKED DONKEY BALLS..

J-

Average is 3-5 depending on shift. Last august on mids we went 5 nights without a dispatched call for the PD. I personally went 8 shifts during that stretch.

average 15,   summertime is 30+

In an 8 10 or 12 hr shift and what population and jurisdiction size are you working
I'm having a  really busy day if I hit double digits

Patrol guys here are right around this. On busy nights, I can get 7-8 K9 deployments. Mostly tracks.

I never went a shift without at least five dispatched calls.  On a hot summer night, 20 wasn't unheard of.

Average 16 calls, 10 hour shift.  All of those are calls for service, no proactive anything.  
There is about 25 on my shift in my district. There is never less than 5 calls for service holding on the board. Ever. There is always a call to go to.

How do you guys with double digit calls on a  daily basis find time to write reports on the calls you've been at

We weren't required to write reports for every call.

Are you rural or city? 7-8 tracks in an urban or urban residential area would be miserable...

This for use too, sorta. We have a digital D-card on our computers in the station and in the cars anything minor gets that, takes about 11 seconds to fill out. Anything else gets a typed case report that is for the most part templated in our computers.

J-

Everything for us is typed out. Every involved party, every vehicle, every piece of property that's lost, stolen, recovered, etc
The only report that some agencies in our shared county database cuts corners on is the accident report, since that's al ready a stand alone report so the officer is allowed to simply reference the accident report number.
Some agencies wont even cut that corner since the two report systems don't talk to each other so they make the officer re-enter every party and vehicle
Some agencies require a stand alone report on every ticket issued as well, to include vehicle and driver.

An 8 hour shift easily results in 1-2 hours of report writing per shift for just about every officer of every agency that uses our shared reporting system

City on an interstate, 40k during the week, 55k weekend population.  8 hr shifts  6 guys on the road during summer due to vacation.   We are severely under staffed

Wow.  As non-leo, 10-15 calls per shift sounds like a lot!  Far more than I would've guessed...



Sounds like there's a helluva lot of crime going on that the average working guy isn't even aware of...(aside from all the horrible crap in the newspaper)

We do respond to those just as any other accident and yeah they make up a good chunk of calls in the fall
I guess some of the young guys are telling the drivers that insurance companies aren't asking for police reports anymore but that's not been my experience when I hit a couple last year



Only the major stuff ever makes the paper around here

Not every call gets an actual "report."  Actual reports are done through a computer program that is basically fill in the blank.  You get quick at them.

We use Spillman, but the associated data entry is the time killer for each report

Not neccesarily. People call the police for EVERYTHING they can not wrap their pea brains around. I work in a college town that has a ghetto in it. We might run 30 loud noise calls in a shift when school is in. Those amount to "hey shut the fuck up you are bothering your neighbors" and then on to the next call.

J-

This is true. I have watched the public grow more and more dependent on the police for stupis shit that could generally be handled by the person calling in.

The classic example is a noise complaint in a suburban residential area.

Nine times out of ten a simple call or visit is enough to get someone to pipe down, yet we have gotten to lzy or cowardly to do this. Instead we pick up the cell and call the police.

I generally leave the police out of it as much as possible and probably take it to the other extreme.

My 60s and 70s training is that unless it's a warm body or something you NEVER call the police.

On this board I have asked a few times what percentage of what a cop deals with is stupid stuff and it is the bulk of what a cop does, unfortunately. We could do with a shitload of fewer policemen if we'd simply start treating each other responsibly and with a little respect.

One night on an unseasonably late fall evening a barbecue got loud and Mrs Pic wanted to get some sleep. There was no foliage to deaden things. I simply shouted out the window "Hey, Phil! THere's no leaves on the trees to deaden things and I have a big day ahead of me. COuld you please tone it down?"

I got an "OK, Pic!" as a response and things toned right down.

MOST times it doesn't take much.

WHat HAS happened in recent years is that people have been getting selfish, though.

When the neighborhood inevitably changes I may have to resort to calling but even then only as a last resort.

Over the years I have spread enough goodwill couple with a touch of evil so people regard me as a best friend/worst enemy type and work with me.