LAW ENFORCEMENT 2005

This dataset is a combination of law enforcement addresses from (1)
the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, (2) the Yellow Pages
online, and (3) Super Pages online. Since more sheriff facilities exist 
than were included in the FDLE website, addresses were also obtained 
from the Yellow and Super Pages to insure a complete spatial 
representation of law enforcement facility locations.

The following dataset was Geocoded against ARC Logistics Route GDT
Roads. Address information was obtained via a website or through a
spreadsheet gained from an agency. The data was reformatted using a
text editor in order to create data that could be imported into
excel. From this data, dbfs were created that could then be used
for Geocoding/Address Matching.

What is Geocoding?
Geocoding is term used to describe the act of address matching.  Geocoding
is the process of finding a geographic location (x, y point) for an address
(such as street number and name, city, state, and ZIP Code) on a map.
Geocoding is based off the typical address scheme for the US, in which one
side of the street contains even house numbers while the other side of the
street contains odd house numbers.

The geocoding process uses an algorithm to find the geographic location
of addresses. First, a street segment is identified using the zip code and
street name. Next, the geographic location of the address is matched using
the building number to determine how far down the street and on which side
of the street the building is located.

Geocoding Accuracy
The locational accuracy of geocoded addresses may vary from urban to rural
areas due to the algorithm used to generate the geographic locations of
addresses. The algorithm assumes that the size of parcels are equivalent
along a road route. This assumption tends to be more consistent in urban
areas, where the size of parcels vary less than in rural areas.
Consequently, the results of geocoded addresses in urban areas are usually
more reliable than those in rural areas.

For example, the locational accuracy of rural addresses can be slightly
off because some parcels along a rural route may be 15 acres while others
may be 2.5 acres, but the geocoding algorithm assumes that the addresses
are distributed evenly along the route.

This data is provided 'as is' and its horizontal positional accuracy has not been verified by GeoPlan

This data is provided 'as is' and its vertical positional accuracy has not been verified by GeoPlan

Spatial and Attribute Information

Law Enforcement addresses were obtained through the FDLE website or the 
Yellow and Super Pages Online.  These addresses were copied into a text file,
which was converted to a database file. The database file was geocoded
against ARC Logistics Route GDT Roads, and converted into a shapefile
with the FGDL Albers HPGN map projection.

-Obtained Law Enforcement addresses through FDLE website
 www.fdle.state.fl.us and Yellow Pages Online.
-Copied law enforcement addresses into text file
-Converted text file to database file format
-Geocoded against ARC Logistics Route GDT Roads
 Shapefile created using FGDL Albers HPGN map projection (See "Map
 Projection Parameters" below).

Process Steps for FDLE Law Enforcement Data:

-Downloaded Law Enforcement facility data in text file format from
 the FDLE website:
 http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/cjst/Professionalism/AgencyAddresses
-Converted the facility locations text file to database file format

Process Steps for Super Pages Law Enforcement Data:

-Searched for law enforcement addresses in www.superpages.com
-Selected law enforcement addresses under following categories:

#  Government Offices

    * Police Departments (559)

#  Law Enforcement

    * Law Enforcement Training (6)
    * Law Enforcement Consultants (14)
    * Sheriff's Department (950)
    * State Highway Patrol (52)
    * Criminologists (5)
    * City Marshals (1)

Process Steps for Yellow Pages Law Enforcement Data:

-Searched for law enforcement addresses in www.yellowpages.com
-Selected law enforcement addresses under following categories:

Justice, Public Order & Safety
Police Protection
- Bureau Of Criminal Investigation Government (10)
- Marshals Office Police (5)
- Police (2796)
- Police Protection Interstate & Federal (12)
- Police Protection, County (1037)
- Police Protection, Federal Government (31)
- Police Protection, Local Government (891)
- Police Protection, State Government (66)
- Sheriffs Office (1904)
- State Highway Patrols (113)

-All addresses from sections above were copied and pasted into a
 text file, which was then formatted so that it could be imported
 into Excel and converted to a database file format.

Process Steps for Both USFA, Yellow Pages, and Super Pages data:

-Both database files of law enforcement facilities were compared to
 remove duplicate addresses.
-Both database files were combined
 The addresses were geocoded against ARC Logistics Route GDT Roads
 Shapefile created using FGDL Albers HPGN map projection

(A4) For Volusia County, FL the 2005 GC_LAWENFORCE statewide 
geocoded point data was removed. This data was replaced with 
more accurate point data received directly from Volusia County 
and/or a company working with Volusia County in May of 2005.

(A5) Some Information from the 2004 geocoded data set was 
retained; this data was retained for three reasons: 

 1. The Yellow Pages and Super Pages Online are paid 
advertising sites, some facilities may wish to discontinue 
their advertising with those companies but they may still 
exist at that address/location (i.e. Churches etc). 
 2. The address might have changed slightly (i.e. suite 
number, building number, or zip code) which may have 
affected the addresses ability to be geocoded with the 
2005 GDT roads dataset. 
 3. The facility no longer exists. 

Because facilities in reasons one and two may still exist 
in the real world all the 2004 geocoded features that were 
not reproduced in the 2005 geocode update were re-geocoded 
against the 2005 GDT roads dataset.  These facilities were 
then added to the 2005 geocoded dataset. Facilities that 
are part of this scenario are represented with a value of 'NIN' 
(Not In New) in the field called FLAG.

-Added DESCRIPT field based on NAME
-Socio-Cultural Effect data fields and definitions were added. 
 FLAG, UPDATE_DAY, AUTOID, NAME, ADDRESS, CITY,
 OPERATING, OP_CLASS, HOURS, SPECIAL, YR_BUILT,
 COMMON_USE, USE, FGDLAQDATE.
-For facilities that previously existed the permanent auto 
 identification number [auto id] was carried over from the
 2004 SCE base data to the 2005 SCE updates. For new 
 facilities autoids were created.
-Total records = 967

Internal feature number.

ESRI

Feature geometry.

ESRI

ESRI item which denotes the status of the geocoded address whether it was matched or not).

ESRI item which denotes the score with which the address was matched to a feature in the reference data.

ESRI item which denotes the side of the street to which the address was matched (for geocoding service styles that can match an address to a particular side of a street).

Internal ID #

Law enforcement agency designation

A description of a facility's physical location providing direction for delivery and provision of emergency services

City of facility's physical location

US postal delivery designation of facility's physical location

The type of Law Enforcement faciltiy.

FDLE

Category of agency

The responsible organization for management and operation of a facility (e.g., public, private, quasi-public)

Classification of the operating entity

Location of two or more uses in one facility or on common grounds so as to share common facilities

Description of co-located use, if applicable

The year a structure was built for determining possible historical significance

FGDL added item based on TYPE

Type of update that occurred

The last day the file was updated

Internal ID #

The date FGDL aquired the data from the source.

GeoPlan