Prioritization and Situational Awareness
Every call competes for limited units, so the dispatcher ranks need rather than arrival order. The standard hierarchy is: an in-progress threat to life (active violence, shooting, stabbing, drowning, not breathing, structure fire with trapped occupants); then a situation likely to become a life threat or a crime in progress against persons; then in-progress property crime; then just-occurred or cold reports. Weapons, injuries, vulnerability of the victim (children, elderly, disabled), and whether the suspect is still on scene all push a call up the stack.
Prioritization is continuous, not a one-time decision. New information from a caller, another unit, or a field observation can upgrade or downgrade a call; say so on the radio and update the CAD entry so the record matches reality.
Situational awareness means holding a mental map of where every unit is, what each is doing, and what is likely to happen next: a fight call near a school at dismissal, a pursuit heading toward a crowded intersection, a unit out of contact longer than expected. Anticipate the next request instead of reacting to it.
Traps. Working calls strictly first-in, first-out. Letting a screaming caller set the priority for a cold report. Failing to upgrade a call when a weapon is reported. Losing track of a unit's welfare during a critical incident. Assuming a busy unit will 'probably clear soon.'
Worked example. Call A is a shoplift that occurred an hour ago; Call B is a man with a knife chasing someone. B goes first regardless of arrival order, and Call A's reporting party is told honestly that deputies are handling an emergency and will be delayed.
Rule of thumb: life now, life soon, property, no threat.