Understanding SAPD Non-Dispositioned Calls: San Antonio Police CAD Data Guide For 2026

This analytical guide examines the operational, technical, and data-governance structures surrounding non-dispositioned calls within the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system.

In municipal public safety data management, a complete and accurate call record is the baseline of law enforcement accountability. For the San Antonio Police Department, which serves a population of over 1.4 million residents across Bexar County, managing the massive volume of emergency and non-emergency calls for service is a complex task. Among the millions of data rows generated by the SAPD communications division, "non-dispositioned calls" present a unique challenge for public safety analysts, legal professionals, and investigative journalists tracking municipal transparency.

A non-dispositioned call represents an entry within the dispatch system that has not been resolved with a definitive operational outcome code. When an emergency call is received at the SAPD communications center or self-initiated by an officer patrolling the San Antonio River Walk, the West Side, or the Stone Oak area, it is logged into the CAD system. To close the lifecycle of that call, an officer or dispatcher must apply a "disposition" code. When this step is missed, delayed, or systematically bypassed, the call remains "non-dispositioned," clouding public records and complicating municipal performance audits.

Decoding the CAD Life Cycle: What Is an SAPD Disposition Code?

To comprehend why a call remains non-dispositioned, it is essential to trace the lifecycle of a dispatch event from inception to archiving. The San Antonio Police Department utilizes sophisticated CAD software integrated with its Records Management System (RMS). This system serves as the real-time hub for police, fire, and emergency medical services.

When a dispatcher inputs an incident, the system assigns a unique incident number, records the geographic coordinates, logs the initial dispatch priority level (ranging from Priority 0 for critical emergencies to Priority 5 for administrative tasks), and routes the call to the appropriate patrol zone substation, such as the Prue Road Substation, East Substation, or the Downtown Foot Patrol.

Once an officer arrives on the scene, conducts the initial assessment, and completes the required action, the CAD event must be closed. Closing the event requires assigning a disposition code. This code tells the system—and ultimately the public record—exactly what occurred during the police response.

Typical SAPD disposition categories include:

• Report Written (REP): A formal police report was filed, initiating a case number in the RMS.
• No Report Taken (NRE / NRS): Officers responded, but the situation did not warrant a formal incident report (often categorized by English or Spanish primary language interactions).
• Assisted Public / Assisted Other Agency (AST): Officers assisted a citizen or another public entity (such as the Bexar County Sheriff's Office or San Antonio Fire Department) without filing a primary SAPD report.
• Unfounded (UNF): The reported incident could not be verified or did not occur at the specified location.
• Information Gathered (INFO): Information was logged for intelligence or administrative tracking, but no further immediate action was taken.
• Cancelled (CAN): The call was cancelled by the dispatcher or reporting party before officers arrived on the scene.

If a call does not receive one of these definitive codes, it remains in a "non-dispositioned" state. This means the CAD system recognizes that an event occurred, and police resources were likely dispatched, but the final administrative resolution was never recorded in the dispatch database.

Why Do SAPD Calls Remain Non-Dispositioned? Common Technical and Operational Factors in 2026

The presence of non-dispositioned calls in SAPD data feeds is rarely the result of a single error. Instead, it stems from a combination of high-stress field operations, legacy software limitations, and administrative processing delays.

High-Volume Operational Bottlenecks

Patrol officers in high-density sectors face intense operational pressure. During peak hours, an officer clearing a call in the West Zone or South Zone may be immediately dispatched to a high-priority, life-threatening emergency before they can input the final disposition code for their previous call on their Mobile Data Terminal (MDT). While dispatchers attempt to clear these calls manually from the communications center, backlogs inevitably build up during shifts with high call volumes.

CAD-to-RMS System Latency

In 2026, the integration between real-time CAD systems and permanent Records Management Systems remains subject to sync latencies. A call may be closed on an officer's MDT, but due to a network drop or database replication delay, the disposition code fails to write back to the primary SQL database serving public data portals. These technical synchronization failures create artificial "non-dispositioned" statuses in publicly exported datasets, even though the call was resolved in the field.

Multi-Unit and Multi-Agency Incidents

Complex incidents involving multiple responding units—such as a major traffic accident on Loop 1604 or a multi-agency response with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)—often result in multiple CAD entries for a single event. While the primary responding unit may write a report and close their CAD log with a "REP" disposition, secondary backup units or administrative support logs may be left open or cleared without a formal disposition code, leading to duplicate, non-dispositioned entries associated with the same incident.

Technical Analysis: Disposition Statuses and Data Integrity

For data analysts and legal teams conducting public safety audits, understanding the structural differences between dispositioned and non-dispositioned records is vital. The following comparison highlights how different CAD states affect data integrity, statistical reporting, and compliance with the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

The Impact of Non-Dispositioned Calls on San Antonio Public Transparency and Policy

The presence of unresolved or non-dispositioned calls has far-reaching consequences beyond database maintenance. It directly affects how the City of San Antonio measures police efficiency, allocates taxpayer funds, and maintains public trust.

Distortion of Police Response Time Metrics

The San Antonio City Council relies on CAD data to evaluate SAPD response times for Priority 1 through Priority 5 calls. Response times are calculated by measuring the duration between the call dispatch timestamp and the officer's arrival on the scene, extending to the call clearance timestamp. When calls remain non-dispositioned, the system cannot calculate the total duration of the call accurately. This leads to skewed operational metrics, making it difficult for policymakers to determine if substations are meeting their performance targets.

Public Records Obstacles under the Texas Public Information Act (TPIA)

Under Texas Government Code Chapter 552, citizens, legal counsel, and journalists have the right to access police dispatch logs. When a public records request is submitted to the SAPD Records Division at their downtown headquarters (315 S. Santa Rosa Ave), the city must extract data from its CAD databases.

If a significant portion of the requested log contains non-dispositioned calls, the records appear incomplete or redacted. For investigative teams tracking critical incidents—such as mental health calls or domestic violence responses—the absence of clear disposition codes makes it nearly impossible to determine whether officers took appropriate action or initiated a mental health diversion protocol.

Operational Standard for Incident Reporting To maintain data integrity, the Texas Department of Public Safety requires all municipal law enforcement agencies to reconcile CAD and RMS data monthly. Unresolved or non-dispositioned call entries must be audited by substation administrative sergeants to ensure that every incident involving a dispatch of police personnel has a corresponding narrative, citation, or documented reason for no action taken.

Step-by-Step Guide to Accessing and Resolving SAPD Call Logs and Public Records

If you are an investigator, legal professional, or citizen researcher attempting to analyze SAPD CAD logs for non-dispositioned calls, you can systematically access and clean this data using standard open records protocols and basic data analysis tools.

Step 1: Submit a Target-Specific TPIA Request

Do not request "all CAD data" as this will trigger high administrative cost estimates and potential delays. Instead, submit a highly specific request through the City of San Antonio's official open records portal (typically managed via GovQA).

Specify the following fields in your request:

• Incident Number
• Dispatch Date and Time Range
• Nature of Call (e.g., disturbance, welfare check)
• Responding Unit IDs and Beat/Substation Designation
• Disposition Code (requesting both dispositioned and blank/null fields)

Step 2: Identify Null and Empty Fields in the Exported Dataset

Once you receive your CSV or Excel dataset from the SAPD Open Records division, import the file into your preferred data analysis software. Filter the column containing the disposition codes to isolate blank cells, "NULL" values, or placeholder characters (such as "000" or "UNK"). These represent the non-dispositioned portion of your dataset.

Step 3: Cross-Reference with Case Numbers and Police Reports

For critical incidents that show no disposition, copy the Incident Number. Submit a follow-up request to the SAPD Records Division to check if a corresponding Case Number exists in the Records Management System. Often, an officer will write a detailed report (generating a Case Number), but the CAD record will fail to automatically update with the "REP" code. This step resolves the data gap by manually pairing the CAD log with its physical outcome.

Step 4: Map Spatial Discrepancies

Map the geographic coordinates of the non-dispositioned calls. Identifying spatial clusters of these unresolved logs can reveal specific geographic zones (such as major retail centers or high-incident transit corridors) where high call frequency causes officers to bypass standard MDT closeout procedures. This provides valuable context on where administrative attention is most needed.

Frequently Asked Questions About SAPD CAD Data and Unresolved Calls

What does "non-dispositioned" mean on an SAPD police dispatch log?

A non-dispositioned call is an emergency or non-emergency dispatch log entry that was never closed out with an official outcome code. This means that while police dispatchers recorded the incident and assigned officers to respond, the final actions taken by those officers were never administrative logged or synchronized into the CAD database.

Does a non-dispositioned call mean that SAPD never responded to the incident?

No, it does not. A non-dispositioned status simply indicates a lack of administrative closure in the database. Officers may have fully resolved the situation on-scene, but due to rapid dispatch to another high-priority emergency, communication dropouts on their Mobile Data Terminals, or simple administrative oversight, the final disposition code was never successfully saved.

How do non-dispositioned calls affect San Antonio's official crime statistics?

Because crime statistics (such as those compiled for the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program and NIBRS) are drawn from completed incident reports within the Records Management System, non-dispositioned calls are generally excluded from these metrics. This exclusion can lead to an underreporting of police activity and resource utilization, as thousands of hours spent on unresolved or minor incidents go uncounted in official reports.

Can the public request SAPD dispatch data containing these non-dispositioned calls?

Yes. Under the Texas Public Information Act, dispatch logs (often referred to as CAD sheets or dispatch printouts) are public records. While sensitive personal information, medical details, or active investigative files may be redacted, the baseline technical data—including the incident number, response times, and disposition codes (or lack thereof)—must be disclosed upon formal request.

What is the City of San Antonio doing to resolve CAD data gaps in 2026?

The City of San Antonio and the SAPD have implemented automated daily data-reconciliation scripts that flag CAD records closed without a valid disposition code. These flagged entries are routed to substation administrative personnel for review. Additionally, continuous software updates to their MDT and dispatch infrastructure in 2026 aim to minimize database write-errors during cellular handoffs in weaker signal zones across Bexar County.

For legal consultants, municipal policy researchers, and public safety technology firms, auditing CAD systems is critical to establishing operational transparency. If your organization requires deep-dive data analysis, forensic CAD database reconciliation, or advisory services on Texas Public Information Act compliance, consult with professional data engineers and legal experts specializing in municipal law enforcement operations.