Welfare Checks
Image Source: Newsweek
One of the most common things that results in police officers being called out is to complete a wellness check on someone who might have gone unusually quiet, or someone believes they might be in trouble. Once they've received the call they'll head to the persons residence to see if they're reachable and that might be the end of the check. If something seems to appear a little suspicious and they think the person in question might be at risk then they might attempt to help them and get them some medical assistance.
Public Disturbances
Image Source: Reddit
Although there are many issues that have arisen in regards to police officers and their behaviour to citizens, especially in the US with instances regarding police brutality (like the George Floyd case) they are meant to be there to ensure that the public is always safe and they'll try to resolve any form of issue that's affecting the peace in the area. Police are often called out to deal with issues like protests or arguments and will try to de-escalate them (supposedly) using communication skills they're taught during their training.
Theft And Burglary
Image Source: Reddit
Burglaries are unfortunately a common occurrence in the US and around the world, in fact, they're one of the most common reasons for police to be called out to investigate an area. These could be burglaries of homes, places of work or people's cars, all of which can be incredibly distressing towards the people its happened too. They'll obviously ensure you're safe before they then investigate the area and will try and find evidence. Unfortunately, burglars are (mostly) becoming smart enough to avoid being caught these days.
Traffic Accidents
Image Source: NBC News
Traffic accidents can be some of the most distressing and emotional incidents that can occur in a human's life thanks to the speeds that people can be caught driving at. Thousands and thousands of traffic incidents are occurring each and every day and in the US alone, during the year 2019, there were 6.7 million reported crashes by the police alone. Just imagine going to work every day and having to witness crash after crash, some more severe than other and having to maintain a strong face, no matter what you're looking at.
Someone Acting Suspicious
Image Source: Reddit
Ever since the US became the victim of terrorist attacks, particularly after 9/11 there has been a lot of emphasis on citizens protecting other citizens by contacting the police if anyone around you is beginning to appear suspicious. For example, the man who detonated the explosions at the Boston Marathon had been seen on cameras appearing somewhat suspicious BUT wasn't apprehended. These are some of the scarier incidents for a police to be called out too, and if bags are found to be left unattended bomb squads can also be introduced.
Domestic Assault
Image Source: Reddit
Unfortunately, domestic assaults account for (on average) more than 10 million police call outs each and every year and they can range from minor incidents like a small fight to extremely vicious crimes towards partners or their children. They can be particularly difficult to control and often result in issues like partners being arrested and in some awful situations, children have to be separated from one or both of their parents in order to protect them. They often have to work with other emergency services like medical teams to ensure everyone is safe.
Domestic Disputes
Image Source: Reddit
Not all domestic situations result in heightened incidents that lead to other services like paramedics or social services having to get involved. Typically, these calls usually come from a scared child or a concerned neighbour who might be worried about what's going on and the police will conduct what is essentially a wellness check to make sure everything is okay. It's natural to argue, but you also have to understand that other people don't know everything that's going on your life and they need to check to be safe!
Noise Complaints
Image Source: Reddit
Although national statistics are hard to come by, its natural to assume that there are a large amount of noise complaints made each and every day, usually towards night time as people can become more and more aggravated by people stopping them from getting their beauty sleep. Like I mentioned before, the cops are there to ensure that peace is maintained within a community and so they will deal with 'suitable' noise complaints. Most states will have their own rules regarding what is and isn't allowed so its also likely the number would differ state-by-state.
Mental Health Issues
Image Source: Daily Mail
Despite all the bad press that police officers get (yes some of the officers do deserve all the bad press in the world) there are some heart-warming incidents and videos that show officers responding to calls where someone feels suicidal or close to their wits end and need a hand. These sorts of calls occur higher in states where there is less availability in mental health services (which is crazy to think!). The most important thing for them to do in these situations is try to build some communication with the troubled citizen before getting them some help.
Property Damage
Image Source: Reddit
Damaged property can encompass a wide range of incidents including damage to someone's car, house or garden and can range from minor incidents like scratches and smashed windows to life-changing incidents like arson. For that reason, it's hard to come to a collective number for the amount of police callouts that occur as a result of property damage. Keep in mind that police departments in popular areas or areas with a higher population are always going to receive more calls than somewhere out the way.
Graffiti Vandalism
Image Source: Reddit
You might not think that graffiti vandalism is a particularly big issue when it comes to police callouts as it doesn't really cause anyone harm. The issue mostly arises in residential areas where people's homes or other things they own are vandalised. Fortunately, most things can be cleaned off and there tends to be very little work done by the police to have to help the caller. Typically, police are only called out to witness graffiti vandalism in more rural areas as tagging has become so common in urban cities and areas.
Someone's Missing
Image Source: Reddit
Missing persons cases can be some of the most troubling issues around the world and they are extremely common in the US, typically by parents who are worried about their child not coming home. Obviously numbers can change every year, but in 2020 there were more than 600,000 calls to the various police departments regarding someone going missing. Fortunately, the majority of missing people are found within hours or days of the call coming in, but it can still be a horrible job to have to look for someone.
People Trespassing
Image Source: Reddit
Some (and most) of trespassing incidents are typically quite minor and they don't tend to be particularly dangerous towards officers or the people who are requesting the call out by calling 911. Typically, they just want to make sure that the person who is seen to be trespassing isn't actually trying to cause any issues nor do they have any intention of going on to commit any crimes like damage to property. Usually the officers will have a simple job of finding out what they're doing without coming in to any harm.
Someone's Stalking Someone
Image Source: Reddit
As technology is continuing to improve stalking is no longer just something that people do physically, but they can also use the internet to help themselves! This has made the job of protecting people much harder for police officers. Crazily, The US Department of Justice released the statistic that more than 7 million people claim to be being stalked each and every year; so I'm sure you can imagine the amount of calls and the amount of work that cops have to put in, in order to protect people from any potential stalkers.
Vehicle Theft
Image Source: CTV News Toronto
Although motor vehicle thefts are much less common than most of the other crimes to feature on this list, the FBI revealed that, in 2019, there were nearly 750,000 separate vehicle thefts across the entirety of the US. These thefts can range from random attacks to pre-meditated gang thefts as they try to steal vehicles to sell for profit. In many situations the car can be easily located thanks to car registrations being sent to all officers, although pre-meditated thefts can be much harder to narrow down. Keep them as secure as you can.
Alarms Are Going Off
Image Source: Reddit
For the majority of instances, cops won't have to put too much work into calls regarding building alarms going off, as unfortunately, despite the technology industry advancing rapidly, alarms can still be set off accidentally. So yes, most of the time, officers are sent to accidental alarm triggers or malfunctions and they'll do a quick sweep of the area just to make sure. In serious situations, they'll communicate with the security services and building manager in order to conduct a thorough and essential search of the building.
People Acting Disorderly
Image Source: TicketSchool
Disorderly behaviour can be quite a broad subject topic, but in this instance I'm talking about someone in particular is being aggressive or loud towards members of the public without having been provoked to do so. They might be choosing to do so, or they might just want to be difficult in order to gain attention. Typically, people who are arrested for being disorderly in public tend to have a history with the issue; A lot of the time, it can be people who are homeless or struggling that tend to have these sorts of issues nationwide.
Drunk And Naked People
Image Source: Reddit
This might seem oddly specifc, as you could group public intoxication as being disorderly (hence the term drunk and disorderly) but there is large number of callouts for officers in regards to people who are both intoxicated and engaging in public nudity (or sexual acts) within spaces that people really shouldn't be seen in the nude. Typically, these people have to be arrested and this sort of crime (including the nudity) tends to be more common in coastal states where we'll find younger people drinking on and around the beach.
Weapons In Public
Image Source: CTV News London
Unfortunately, crimes involving weapons in the US seem to be at a much higher level here than they are in other countries around Europe in particular. This has something to do with our laws surrounding guns being so lenient, but, it isn't narrowed down to gun crime. I suppose anything that could cause any form of harm could be deemed a weapon in it's own right? You'll find that these sorts of police callouts become more common in the more urban areas of big cities, usually on the outskirts of a big town.
Identity Theft
Image Source: Reddit
It seems crazy that people will go to such extreme lengths to get their hands on people's details but scams like the one you can see in the picture above are actually more common than you might think. Fraudulent activities like this can be very damaging for people, especially those that are already struggling financially. The issue with this is that police officers can often struggle when it comes to going about catching people who set up these scams due to the nature of them. The tend to occur more often in higher affluential areas.
People Drink Driving
Image Source: NBC News
Crazily, there are thousands and thousands of drink driving instances occurring each and every day here in the US, showing that certain people really take no care in looking after the other people around them on the road. These sorts of incidents can be some of the most devastating around the world and can range from minor incidents like maybe driving in to a bollard to some of the worst and most full on crashes which can result in numerous deaths. Multiple people die every day from car collisions related to drink driving.
Young Kids Acting Up
Image Source: Reddit
When it comes to children acting disorderly, the cops have to act in a slightly different manner to how they respond to adults acting in the same way. They'll obviously have to try and calm the situation down via communication, but if the issue proceeds to continue then they may have to restrain them. There is a comfortable way to do this, but unfortunately social media has shown cops treating kids (particularly black kids) with more aggression than should ever be shown to upcoming youth of our nation.
Sexual Offences
Image Source: Reddit
Sexual assault is massively more prevalent in the US and around the world than it ever should be, which highlights how dangerous people really are. In fact, the countries' National Sexual Violence Resource Center have claimed that around 1 in 3 of all woman and 1 in 6 of all men in the US will actually suffer from sexual violence at some point in their life. And the worst part is that they're underreported as a result of people knowing that the police, in many occasions can't do anything about the crime.
Medical Emergencies
Image Source: Reddit
There are obviosuly some medical emergencies that won't require anyone from the police force to come and inspect the scene, but that doesn't mean they aren't needed at some points. Often, especially during hurricane seasons or earthquakes, the police force are enlisted to help with the efforts of keeping people safe and transporting them. There are millions of emergency calls to the dispatch center each and every year, although it has to be mentioned that probably half of these don't require police assistance.
Public Hazards (sinkholes etc)
Image Source: Reddit
It's hard to put an exact number to the amount of sinkholes that appear every year in the US, but its likely to be in the thousands. You then have to narrow down how many of these sinkholes are actually in public areas, but the police are responsible, once being notified, to stop people having accidents around the site until someone can come and fix it. Other public hazards they may be called out for include random incidents like burst fire hydrants or potholes etc that can be causing minor damages to the locals.
Wanted Person Found
Image Source: Reddit
Obviously, this is quite a rare thing to happen and the numbers for this aren't exactly high, although it varies each year depending on how many people the enforcement officials are on the lookout for as well as how frequently they might be spotted. It has to be noted that not all wanted calls actually mean that the cops are going to be able to apprehend any suspects and they have to take each and every hint with a pinch of salt. Sometimes these claims are false whereas sometimes they might be on the path of an extremely dangerous criminal.
Neighbour Disputes
Image Source: Reddit
Neighbour disputes are some of the most common conflicts that police officers have to deal with on a daily basis. You'd think that, as neighbours, people would be able to get on, but they actually tend to argue over the simple things more than they would with anyone else. Most of the time they'll be easy to resolve as it's typically a situation where one neighbour might be being too loud or they might have done some work on the yard that's affected the neighbour. It's very rare these get too out of hand!
Hang-Ups
Image Source: Vox
I'm sure one of the most annoying things that can happen to someone that works in the dispatch centres is receiving hoax calls or being hung up on during the conversation they're having. The issue with people prank calling is that officers still have to check the location the call came from in order to ensure the people that called are safe. This can place an unnecessary burden on the emergency departments (all of them, not just the cops) and they then tend to investigate the prank callers too, it is a crime to do so!
Runaways
Image Source: Reddit
Just like with missing people, the police are often the first port of call when parents come to the conclusion or are told that their child has decided to run away from home. These sorts of instances are extremely common in the US and around the world and in the majority of cases the runaway is likely to have just went to a friends house. Despite this, the cops have to take it very seriously (as with all crimes) and conduct thorough searches. This sort of issue results in hundreds of thousands of police callouts every single year.
Animal Related Incidents
Image Source: HuffPost
You probably don't think of police officers when it comes to an emergency service helping rescue animals. The one that probably first comes to mind is that of the fire department maybe helping save a stuck cat from a tree or something like that! Alongside this, they are occasionally called out in order to deal with claims of animal neglect, stray animals or any forms of animal attack. In the more rural states of the US they often have to work with wildlife agencies in order to protect the public from cases of dangerous animals like bears roaming the streets.