FLORIDA GEOGRAPHIC DATA LIBRARY DOCUMENTATION
(VERSION 2003)
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Geodataset Name: LAWENFORCE Geodataset Type: SHAPE Geodataset Feature: POINT
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
This dataset contains 2003 Law Enforcement Information for the State of Florida. It is a combination of Law Enforcement addresses from (1) the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and (2) the Yellow Pages online. The data contains selected fields denoting the physical address, number, regions, and contact information for Law Enforecement Facilities and Agencies located in Florida.
DATA SOURCE(S): Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Yellow Pages Online SCALE OF ORIGINAL SOURCE MAPS: N/A DATE OF AUTOMATION OR SOURCE: Source 2003, Automated 2003 GEODATASET EXTENT: State of FloridaFEATURE ATTRIBUTE TABLES:
Datafile Name: LAWENFORCE.DBF ITEM NAME WIDTH TYPE PRECISION SHAPE 6 SHAPEPOINT 0 STATUS 1 CHARACTER 0 SCORE 4 DECIMAL 0 SIDE 1 CHARACTER 0 X 19 DECIMAL 5 Y 19 DECIMAL 5 NAME 33 CHARACTER 0 STREET 26 CHARACTER 0 CITY 16 CHARACTER 0 ZIP 6 DECIMAL 0 CONTACT 38 CHARACTER 0 TITLE 19 CHARACTER 0 AGENCY 11 CHARACTER 0 REGION 8 DECIMAL 0 TYPE 10 CHARACTER 0 DESCRIPT 33 CHARACTER 0
FEATURE ATTRIBUTE TABLES CODES AND VALUES:
ITEM ITEM DESCRIPTION
SHAPE Data attribute inherent to the ESRI shapefile format
which defines the data as a point, polyline, or
polygon.
STATUS ESRI item denoting the status of the geocoded
address whether it was matched or not).
SCORE ESRI item denoting the score with which the address
was matched to a feature in the reference data.
SIDE ESRI item denoting 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).
X ESRI item denoting, the X coordinate of the
geocoded feature.
Y ESRI item denoting, the Y coordinate of the
geocoded feature.
NAME The name of the Law Enforcement facility.
STREET The physical street address of the Law Enforcement
facility.
CITY The city in which the Law Enforcement facility is
located.
ZIP The five digit Zip code for the Law Enforcement
facility.
CONTACT The name of the contact person.
TITLE The title of the contact person.
AGENCY The offical number of the Law Enforcement facility.
REGION The region in which the Law Enforcement facility if
found.
TYPE The type of Law Enforcement faciltiy.
AGENCY State Law Enforcement Agency.
CORRECTION State Correctional Facility
HIGHWAYP Highway Patrol Facility.
PDEPT Police Department Facility.
SHERIFF Sherif Facility (Yellow Pages Information).
SHERIFO Sherif's Office.
TRAINING Law Enforcement Training Facility.
DESCRIPT Based on NAME
USER NOTES:
This dataset is a combination of law enforcement addresses from (1) the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and (2) the Yellow Pages online. Since more sherif facilities exist than were included in the FDLE website, addresses were also obtained from the Yellow 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. A note concerning data scale: Scale is an important factor in data usage. Certain scale datasets are not suitable for some project, analysis, or modelling purposes. Please be sure you are using the best available data. 1:24000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the county level. 1:24000 data should NOT be used for high accuracy base mapping such as property parcel boundaries. 1:100000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the multicounty or regional level. 1:250000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the regional or state level or larger. Vector datasets with no defined scale or accuracy should be considered suspect. Make sure you are familiar with your data before using it for projects or analyses. Every effort has been made to supply the user with data documentation. For additional information, see the References section and the Data Source Contact section of this documentation. For more information regarding scale and accuracy, see our web pages at: http://www.geoplan.ufl.edu/education.html
FGDL QUALITY ASSURANCE STATUS:
-Obtained Law Enforcement addresses through FDLE website www.fdle.state.fl.us and Yellow Pages Online. -Copied law enforcement addresses into textfile -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 Enforcment facility data in textfile 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 Yellow Pages Law Enforcement Data: -Searched for law enforcment addresses in www.yellowpages.com -Selected law enforcement addresses under following categories: Sheriffs Office (326) -All addresses from sections above were copied and pasted into a textfile, which was then formatted so that it could be imported into Excel and converted to a database file format. Process Steps for Both USFA and Yellow 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 (See "Map Projection Parameters" below). -Added DESCRIPT field based on NAME
REFERENCES:
DATA LINEAGE SUMMARY:
Law Enforcement addresses were obtained through the FDLE website or the Yellow Pages Online. These addresses were copied into a textfile, 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. (See "Map Projection Parameters" below).
MAP PROJECTION PARAMETERS:
Projection ALBERS Datum HPGN Units METERS Spheroid GRS1980 1st Standard Parallel 24 0 0.000 2nd Standard Parallel 31 30 0.000 Central Meridian -84 00 0.000 Latitude of Projection's Origin 24 0 0.000 False Easting (meters) 400000.00000 False Northing (meters) 0.00000
DATA SOURCES CONTACT(S):
Name: Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Abbr.name: FDLE
Web site: www.fdle.state.fl.us/cjst/Professionalism/agency/
addresses/index.html
Name: Yellow Pages
Web site: www.YellowPages.com
Phone: 1 (800) 343-7390
FGDL CONTACT:
Name: Florida Geographic Data Library
Abbr. Name: FGDL
Address: Florida Geographic Data Library
431 Architecture
PO Box 115706
Gainesville, FL 32611-5706
Web site: http://www.fgdl.org
Contact FGDL:
Technical Support: http://www.fgdl.org/fgdlfeed.html
FGDL Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.fgdl.org/fgdlfaq.html
FGDL Mailing Lists: http://www.fgdl.org/fgdl-l.html
For FGDL Software: http://www.fgdl.org/software.html