Expanding the Range of Metrics Used in Response Officer Dispatch Decisions

• Published in: Policing : a journal of policy and practice 2021-08, Vol.15 (2), p.1062-1079
• Main Authors: Yarwood, Nicholas, King, Melanie, Henshaw, Michael
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1752-4512; 1752-4520
• DOI: 10.1093/police/paaa095

Although officer proximity to a grade 2 (non-emergency) incident is the primary metric used by dispatchers to allocate officers from deployment, other (informal) factors may influence the decision. The purpose of this research was to identify additional metrics that could be used to better match officer attributes to incident characteristics. Using a form of grounded theory, interviews with dispatchers in a single constabulary were used to identify 14 additional metrics that could be used in a formal decision-making process implemented through software assistance. The metrics broadly fell into the three categories of response time, officer attributes, and incident attributes. Dispatchers generally considered the introduction of a greater range of metrics implemented as software assistance to be beneficial but considered software decision-making tools to be unacceptable. We conclude that the weighting attached to each new metric relative to others should be tailored to the constabulary and operation group with which the dispatcher works. Overall, it is considered desirable to introduce a wider range of metrics through which dispatch of officers to non-emergency incidents may be managed.