# Call for service

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_for_service
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{{Short description|Term for an incident reported to and handled by emergency services}}
{{Globalize|page|United States|date=December 2025}}
[[File:Las Vegas Police officer with car and two men.jpg|thumb|A [Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department](/source/Las_Vegas_Metropolitan_Police_Department) officer at a call for service in 2013. The call involved two people handing out [business card](/source/business_card)s for [sex worker](/source/sex_worker)s at the [Las Vegas Strip](/source/Las_Vegas_Strip).]]
A '''call for service''' ('''CFS''', also known as a '''job''', '''hitch''', '''incident''', '''callout''', '''call-out''', or simply a '''call''') is an incident that [emergency service](/source/emergency_service)s or [public safety organizations](/source/Public_security) (such as [police](/source/police), [fire department](/source/fire_department)s, and [emergency medical services](/source/emergency_medical_services)) are assigned to resolve, handle, or assist with. Operationally, a call for service is any incident where emergency services are a third-party intervener, regardless of whether their presence was requested or they came across it in the course of their duties.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cooper |first=Christopher |date=July 2003 |title=Conceptualizing Mediation Use by Patrol Police Officers |url=http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/conceptualizing_mediation_use_by_patrol_police_officers.pdf |journal=Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210052904/http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/conceptualizing_mediation_use_by_patrol_police_officers.pdf|archive-date=December 10, 2022}}</ref>

The term "call" originates from the [telephone call](/source/telephone_call)s made by the public to [emergency telephone number](/source/emergency_telephone_number)s to report the incident to [dispatcher](/source/dispatcher)s and request an emergency service response.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-04-04 |title=Calls for Service |url=https://www.policedatainitiative.org/datasets/calls-for-service/ |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=Police Data Initiative |language=en-US}}</ref> There are two types of calls for service: ''dispatched calls'', which are made by members of the public through emergency number calls; and ''self-initiated'', ''self-generated'', or ''directed calls'', which are made by emergency services personnel.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Introduction to Calls for Service {{!}} Dispatched Calls {{!}} The City of Portland, Oregon |url=https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/article/676725 |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=www.portlandoregon.gov}}</ref>

After a call for service is received, it is given a basic "call type" and designated [response code](/source/Emergency_service_response_codes) by the dispatcher for transmission and assignment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Madison Heights Police Department Transparency Dashboard |url=https://portal.arxcommunity.com/dashboards/community/mi-ci-madisonheights-pd |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=portal.arxcommunity.com}}</ref> The call types issued by dispatchers can often be vague due to predefined types issued by their agency or jurisdiction's legal code, such as "Alarm" and "Unknown Trouble".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Simpson |first1=Rylan |last2=Orosco |first2=Carlena |date=2021-12-08 |title=Re-assessing measurement error in police calls for service: Classifications of events by dispatchers and officers |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=16 |issue=12 |article-number=e0260365 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0260365 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=8654180 |pmid=34879080|bibcode=2021PLoSO..1660365S |doi-access=free }}</ref>

As it pertains to police work, when the call for service is broadcast over the radio, it is assigned to an officer who patrols the specific sector or [beat](/source/Beat_(police)) within which the call for service originates. Once assigned, the officer must respond and issue some type of finality back to the dispatcher indicating the action taken in order to essentially "finish" that particular call and prepare the patrol shift for the next call. Multiple calls for service may be assigned at once to several patrol beats and, depending on the severity or urgency of the call, multiple calls may be assigned to one individual officer or pair of officers, to be handled in a "queue" of priority.

== References ==
<references />

Category:Emergency services
Category:Jargon
Category:Law enforcement
Category:Public safety

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Call for service](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_for_service) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_for_service?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.