What is "roll call"

Roll \Roll\, n. [F. r[^o]le a roll (in sense 3), fr. L. rotulus ? little wheel, LL., a roll, dim. of L. rota a wheel. See Roll, v., and cf. R[^o]le, Rouleau, Roulette.]

1. The act of rolling, or state of being rolled; as, the roll of a ball; the roll of waves.

2. That which rolls; a roller. Specifically:

   1. A heavy cylinder used to break clods.
      --Mortimer.

   2. One of a set of revolving cylinders, or rollers, between which metal is pressed, formed, or smoothed, as in a rolling mill; as, to pass rails through the rolls.

3. That which is rolled up; as, a roll of fat, of wool, paper, cloth, etc. Specifically:

   1. A document written on a piece of parchment, paper, or other materials which may be rolled up; a scroll.

      Busy angels spread The lasting roll, recording what we say.
      --Prior.

   2. Hence, an official or public document; a register; a record; also, a catalogue; a list.

      The rolls of Parliament, the entry of the petitions, answers, and transactions in Parliament, are extant.
      --Sir M. Hale.

      The roll and list of that army doth remain.
      --Sir J. Davies.

   3. A quantity of cloth wound into a cylindrical form; as, a roll of carpeting; a roll of ribbon.

   4. A cylindrical twist of tobacco.

4. A kind of shortened raised biscuit or bread, often rolled or doubled upon itself.

5. (Naut.) The oscillating movement of a vessel from side to side, in sea way, as distinguished from the alternate rise and fall of bow and stern called pitching.

6. A heavy, reverberatory sound; as, the roll of cannon, or of thunder.

7. The uniform beating of a drum with strokes so rapid as scarcely to be distinguished by the ear.

8. Part; office; duty; r[^o]le. [Obs.]
   --L'Estrange.

   Long roll (Mil.), a prolonged roll of the drums, as the signal of an attack by the enemy, and for the troops to arrange themselves in line.

   Master of the rolls. See under Master.

   Roll call, the act, or the time, of calling over a list names, as among soldiers.

   Rolls of court, of parliament (or of any public body), the parchments or rolls on which the acts and proceedings of that body are engrossed by the proper officer, and which constitute the records of such public body.

   To call the roll, to call off or recite a list or roll of names of persons belonging to an organization, in order to ascertain who are present or to obtain responses from those present.

   Syn: List; schedule; catalogue; register; inventory. See List.

1775, from roll (n.) "list of names used to determine who is present" (a sense attested from 1590s) + call (v.).

n. 1 the reading aloud of a list of names, and subsequent responses, in order to determine who is present or absent 2 the time of day fixed for such an event 3 such an event in a legislative body in order to determine if a quorum exists

n. calling out an official list of names

Roll call may refer to:

• A taking of attendance, as may be used in an order of business or an agenda for a meeting
• One of the types of voting methods in deliberative assemblies (such as a legislature), often synonymous with recorded vote
• Roll call (policing)
• Roll Call, an American newspaper focusing on news from Capitol Hill and Congress
• Roll Call (IQ album), a 2006 album by girl group IQ
• Roll Call (Hank Mobley album), a 1960 album by the tenor saxophone player Hank Mobley
• The Roll Call, an 1874 painting by Elizabeth Thompson, purchased by Queen Victoria
• Roll Call (novel), a novel by Malcolm Rose
• " Real Nigga Roll Call" (2004), a song by Lil Jon featuring Ice Cube

Roll Call is the debut album recorded by girl group IQ. During its first release, the album came with a DVD of an introduction featuring IQ, performances and IQ with groups such as B5, Jada and Everlife. The album was later sold as an Enhanced CD with the audio and video all on one disc.

Roll Call is an album by jazz tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley. Considered one of his best alongside Soul Station (also recorded in 1960), Roll Call features some of the most prominent musicians of the hard bop era, specifically Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Art Blakey, and Freddie Hubbard.

In police jargon, a roll call is a briefing "where supervisors take attendance, inspect uniform and equipment, inform the oncoming shift of any outstanding incidents that may have occurred, inform officers of suspects to be looking out for, relate any law or procedural changes, and so on."

Although often conducted prior to the start of a shift, a roll call may be held at the end of a shift as well. The communication at a roll call is usually top-down, with information disseminated by (or at the direction of) a shift or squad commander. The roll call is just one of several vehicles for intradepartmental communication in law enforcement agencies: other modes include command or administrative staff meetings, quality circles, and unit meetings.

Roll calls are "usually limited to recent events or items that might be of short-term interest" and so usually "do not allow for the in-depth discussions necessary for community policing or real problem-solving.

In 1992, the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department reported that Los Angeles Police Department patrol officers at the time "start each day with roll call that lasts approximately 45 minutes to an hour ... A portion of each roll call (usually 20 minutes or less) is devoting to training. Typical roll call training involves the watch commander lecturing to the officers,. Many watch commanders simply read the Department's policy on a given topic without any discussion of the practical application of that policy in the field.