Handling emergency calls for service: organizational production of crime statistics

Abstract

This paper reviews the transformation of requests for police services, specifically examining the various categories of assault. The impact of housing, race, education level, police workload, neighbourhood criminal history, type of call, call‐taker input, priority (seriousness) originally assigned to the call, and decision to despatch are assessed. Moreover, the paper will: identify the processes police agencies use in classifying crime; identify the conditions under which requests for service are transformed by call‐takers and despatchers; examine the impact of precursors to a request for services being made, including social and contextual (ecological), and prior workload variables; and examine the impact of factors occurring concurrent to the taking of a call.

Citation

Nesbary, D.K. (1998), "Handling emergency calls for service: organizational production of crime statistics", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 576-599. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639519810241638