Howdy – more than I could explain in a Twitter DM (now referred to as an XDM.)

Background

I have been thinking about the data that OEMC must have and how it might be reported to the public. So I submitted a few FOIA requests.

The first – I admit – was a little complicated. I asked for:

Electronic data table(s) which provide information on every call received by OEMC, its timestamp, dispatcher(s), location, originating number, location coordinates, call type, reason for calling, dispatch timestamp, unit assigned, unit response, unit response timestamp, RAP status, RD number, and any other descriptors/fields/details that OEMC has in its possession. Please do NOT include any audio or visual records. If the OEMC believes any data must be anonymized, it should be done in such a way so that said data can be tracked through the system. e.g. Simply run a one-way hash like MD5 or SHA on any fields which ought be anonymized. That will create a database field that is both unique and anonymous. Please provide this information for the month of June 2024.

After 6-8 weeks I never got a response so I simplify the request:

Electronic data table(s) which provide information on every call received by OEMC, its timestamp, and reason for the call. Please do NOT include any audio or visual records. Please provide this information for the month of June 2024.

Again, I waited a month and got no reply. So again, I simplify the request to:

How many 911 calls were handled by OEMC in June 2024?

After another month or so I got my responses.

• From the first request I was provided a file with 157,195 rows of data representing 2,915,736 events.
• From the second request I was provided a file with 210,625 rows of data representing 2,915,937 events.
• For the third request I was told, “Total dispatched events in the fiscal month of June 2024 is 238,748”.

Here’s the first few rows of the file I received from the first request:

The file in response to the second request was similar but had less information.

Putting it all together I have some questions:

• First off, how does OEMC define an “Event Number”? The list starts with EV 2415300001 then skips to #7. Then #8. Skip #9. But we do have 10, 11, 12.
  Is there an easy/simple way to explain what’s going on here? That’s really the big question.
• Any idea why the “unit response time” is BEFORE the Entry Date or other time fields?
• Thank you would be able to help me out with the Type codes? Some are obvious… Some are not.
• And I would be remiss if I didn’t ask, are there any other data fields I should be requesting?
  In the past I’ve actually asked for the entire database structure and a list of fields but such information is exempt from FOIA requests. So I have to be sneaky and find what fields they have another way.

Big picture here – once I understand what I’m looking at and have the data I want, I will request those fields the last five or 10 years. Once I have that I should be able to track the number of calls placed per month, average response times, number of calls per district, per zone, time to respond by call type, etc.

Any insights you may have which point be in the right direction would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

.

.

.