Dispatched Calls Statistics Report 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.  For a more detailed map of the neighborhood boundaries used by the Police Bureau, click here.

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 (for more information on these categories, please click here). 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, click here to find out how to 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.