Police Department Launches Online Calls for Service Interactive Map
Published on January 31, 2022
Palo Alto, CA – The Palo Alto Police Department has launched a new online interactive map, providing a near real-time snapshot of the types and locations of calls for service to which our officers have responded over the past 24 hours. The map offers enhanced community awareness on police calls for service while protecting personal identifying information and was developed as a better alternative to monitoring police radio scanners.
The Police Calls for Service Interactive Map, available for viewing now at /PAPDmap, draws data directly from the Department’s computer-aided dispatch system. It shows the general locations of calls for service from the community, and displays the time the call was received, the call type, and a subtype if applicable. The calls are displayed once the incident is closed to provide the most accurate information and remain visible for 24 hours. The vast majority of the Police Department’s calls for service are closed within an hour. The exact geographic location of the call is not provided to ensure the confidentiality of possible crime victims.
The new interactive map was a concept discussed last year as part of the City’s race and equity community conversations and since that time, City staff have been developing the online prototype. The pilot platform offers a new online look at calls for service that builds on the Police Department’s key priorities including increasing public information, building community awareness and furthering the community’s understanding about public safety services in Palo Alto.
While several municipal police departments in the Bay Area provide some level of police call data online, the Palo Alto Police Department’s Calls for Service Interactive Map offers more call details at near real-time than these other online platforms. “The Palo Alto Police Department is proud to offer this new innovative online calls for service map, providing a rolling, 24-hour snapshot of our officers’ good work serving the Palo Alto community,” said Chief Robert A. Jonsen of the Palo Alto Police Department.
The map complements other types of information that the Police Department releases online, including a daily Police Report Log and news releases about significant incidents. To view the police report log, which lists all the crime reports officers take and arrests that they make, visit /PAPDReportLog. To read all news releases, visit /PAPDnews.
A call for service is generated when an officer responds to a specific location in response to some incident that may require police attention. Most commonly, this occurs when someone contacts the Police Department and requests that an officer respond to an incident. A Public Safety Dispatcher in our 24-hour dispatch center receives the call, makes an initial determination of the call type based on the information provided to them by the caller, and then dispatches an officer or officers to respond. Officers and dispatchers endeavor to modify the call type at the conclusion of the call; the call type displayed on the Calls for Service Interactive Map is whatever is in our computer at the time the incident is closed.
It is important to note that a call for service may or may not be criminal in nature and may or may not result in a police report being written about what happened. An arrest or detention may or may not be made. The vast majority of calls for service to which our officers respond do not result in a police report being written, because no crime actually occurred. The Police Department is happy to respond to any call for service to investigate suspicious activity, and we actually prefer when that activity turns out to be innocent and not criminal because it means that no crime occurred.
The development of the new online platform was a collaboration with the City’s Information Technology Department and the Police Department and offers several web elements for the public to understand recent calls for service in their area. Other than staff time, there was no cost to develop and implement the interactive map.
For more information about the map and the data displayed on it, please visit /PAPDmap. We welcome community feedback on this new community awareness resource; comments about the map can be sent to pd@paloalto.gov.
The Police Calls for Service Interactive Map is in a beta, pilot status and is subject to change.