How to read a CHP dispatch log

Every incident page on this site includes the dispatch log — the running record CHP dispatchers create while an incident is active. It is not a report. It is a transcript of what was known, minute by minute, as it was being learned.

The structure

Each line has a time and a short piece of text. The elapsed column on our pages ("+0:00", "+1:47") shows how long after the first entry each line was added. That column is ours, not CHP's — it is the same timestamps, expressed as duration, so you can see how an incident unfolded.

Entries arrive out of order

Dispatchers append detail to an incident after the fact. An entry timestamped 23:36 may describe something a caller said at 23:34. We sort by the timestamp CHP attaches, which is the closest available approximation of true sequence.

Most lines are fragments

Dispatchers type at speed while talking on a radio. Expect missing words, abbreviations, and misspellings. "3 OR 4 VEHS INV, ONE WENT OFF THE SHOULDER" is a complete, normal entry.

Some lines are the system talking, not a person

Status changes, notifications and rotation-tow requests are generated automatically. We render these in a lighter grey so you can tell an administrative line from a dispatcher describing the scene.

What a log cannot tell you

It cannot tell you who was at fault, how badly anyone was hurt, or what the official report eventually concluded. A log records reports as they arrive, including reports that turn out to be wrong. Vehicle counts change. Locations get corrected. Injuries reported at the scene are sometimes not confirmed, and injuries not noticed at the scene sometimes are.

Treat a dispatch log as a record of the response, not a finding of fact.