I WAS WONDERING WHO POSTS THEM ?

idk

jan Wrote:
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> I WAS WONDERING WHO POSTS THEM ?


Cary ( from the Fairfax Police listing)

it's an automated system. there is a mailing list that sends out updates weekly. this email is automatically fed into a database which is searchable on this site.

more complete information about the cases is available online here: http://www.courts.state.va.us/caseinfo/home.html


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

[Insert reason you are not guilty and why you should be removed here]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2010 06:14PM by Lurker..

[INSERT REASON WHY POST IS IN ALL CAPS]

YOU POSTES THE ARREST/TICKET INFO!

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13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

GOOD RE-POSTE

You can only poste if you can speel.

I checked out the Fairfax County weekly incident page on the County page, but it appears that the file is now in PDF format. Is this true?

if you checked the webpage and it is in PDF format... then it must be true.

It is true, FCPD has posted it in a totally useless format that isn't even human readable.

The last arrest was on 1/10/2010, so apparently 'our' records are outdated.
Oh wow, that sucks its posted in PDF format now. Too bad it probably broke the script, which I'm guessing appended the weekly FCPS text release to one large database. Damn... any format change like this has got to cause some problems. PDF sucks! Since its officially been released as an open standard in 08 hopefully it improves. Either way, Ive got no clue how to extract information from a PDF.

I can see the weekly text records but not how to get them e-mailed to you automatically. Does anyone have the link for that?

BTW, just google if you want a converter from PDF to Excel.

Now I see it. What kind of knuckle head did this? http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/crime/arrestlist_021010.doc.pdf

Are they trying to be obstructionist? Or are they just being sloppy and poor providers of information to the public? Maybe a FOIA is necessary. Ridiculous.

The old one was a comma-delimited text file, and moving that into Word and then to PDF as it appears they did means taking extra steps to make it useless.

It's supposed to have been a one-time deal. They said to check back tomorrow. To answer the OP, the data originally comes from the courts. Can be accessed at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/crime/ then under Crime in our County and Weekly Arrest List.

Mojo Risin Wrote:
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> It's supposed to have been a one-time deal.


Why do it at all?

Sos I can stay away from your nasty hood. Just kidding.

I can run spatial analyses on neighborhoods to tell folks whether they should buy somewhere or not. I have access to data that can tell you what roads, dwelling units, and businesses are planned for a selected area in Fairfax County. Also, demographics, languages spoken, income, and indicators that say whether the area is in decline or gentrifying, etc. One thing I won't do is discolose names or addresses from the arrest reports. They can find this forum for that. I'm just starting the business, so I go for cheap now. Shoot me an e-mail if you're looking. Didn't mean to advertise, but since you asked...

Mojo Risin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Now I see it. What kind of knuckle head did this?
> http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/crime/arrestl
> ist_021010.doc.pdf
>
> Are they trying to be obstructionist? Or are they
> just being sloppy and poor providers of
> information to the public? Maybe a FOIA is
> necessary. Ridiculous.

they are being obstructionists. they have done something similar with the complimentary arrest search by requiring one of those "human" authentication images. the page is setup so that normal search engine bots cant get past the first page but they have put this on top of doing that. why are they hording the info? because they are assholes.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Remember if Fairfax County does anything too annoying that you can always contact your county supervisor. Just find out what district you're in http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/maps/gallery_bosdistricts.htm
and then call him or her http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/government/board/.

It is helpful if you are organized and know just what you want. Also, to have any phone numbers, names, departments, etc. handy. In this case, having the link and to know that the police's public information office (PIO) http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/contact/ pretty much knows what's going on.

I'd give it a day or two, though, in this case. Just my humble opinion, but I suspect that Gravis is right. Maybe they were/are trying to see if they can get away with it.

If it goes a second week we should definitely complain to our county supervisors. There should have been an update yesterday but the Feb 10 update is still what is linked. Maybe someone who is involved with posting the list has a friend or family member in that update and wanted to post that update in a non-useful format to foil the searches.

Yes, it does lead to speculation since no explanation has been forthcoming. Maybe they want to gimp up automated data grabbing.

From someone who uses Excel, Access, dBase, it doesn't protect privacy but makes analysing statistics very difficult. I can cut and paste the info and search for my neighbor's names all I want. But if I wanted to find trends and use the data in a constructive way, that would be difficult.

To me, it looks like the police don't want you to know what they're up to. Maybe they want to cook their numbers to show that they're doing better than they are. Or maybe they're afraid that they'll get in trouble for something they're doing. Guess this may become a new hobby for me. If they truly are playing games, they can do it with the Board of Supervisors too.

i've written a script that converts from PDF back to the old txt format.

Cary, contact me and i will give it to you.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

oh... consider these lines proof:

ADAMS                  SAMUEL                  LEE                  2355-C MILL RD ALEX, ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314                             46      February 3, 2010   5-1-4             DISORDERLY CONDUCT 
AGUAS                  JAY                     PATRICK              6938 HOVINGHAM CT CENTREVILLE, CENTREVILLE, VA 20121                  41      February 3, 2010   46.2-938          FAIL TO APPEAR ON TRAFFIC SUMMONS 
AGUILAR                DENNIS                  REYNALDO             4301 FIELDING ST, ALEXANDRIA, VA 22309                                31      February 6, 2010   82-1-6[46.2-301]  LIC REVOKED: DR W/O LICENSE, 1 OFF 
AKINS                  SAMUEL                                       4434 SCARBOROUGH SQ, ALEXANDRIA, VA 22309                             61      February 2, 2010   18.2-266          DWI: 1ST OFFENSE 
AKINS                  SAMUEL                                       4434 SCARBOROUGH SQ, ALEXANDRIA, VA 22309                             61      February 2, 2010   18.2-268.3        DWI: REFUSAL OF BLOOD OR BREATH TEST, 1 OFF 
ALI                    BANABESSE                                    8629 BRIGADE CT, MANASSAS, VA 20110                                   31      February 5, 2010   82-1-6[46.2-300]  LICENSE: DRIVE W/O 
ANDERSON               AMMIEL                  R                    1725 ALABAMA SE AVE, 204, WASHINGTON, DC 20020                        22      January 13, 2010   18.2-250.1        DRUGS: POSSESS MARIJUANA, 1ST OFF 
ARGUETA MOREIRA        HIPOLITO                                     , ,                                                                   37      February 4, 2010   5-1-25            POSS OPEN ALCH CONT 
ARIAS                  ELMER                   DAVID                6220 PARKHILL DR, ALEXANDRIA, VA 22312                                18      February 4, 2010   82-1-6[46.2-862]  RECKLE/20 MPH OVER LIMIT 
BARRINGER              DUSTIN                  V                    9301 HEDGEFORD ST ST, MANASSAS PAR, VA 20111                          22      January 18, 2010   5-1-4             DISORDERLY CONDUCT 
BATTS                  ROBERT                  IRVIN                6014 MARSHAN CT, 303, ALEXANDRIA, VA 22315                            46      January 20, 2010   82-1-6[46.2-301]  LIC REVOKED: DR W/O LICENSE, 1 OFF 
BEJARANO               JOSE                    ANTONIO              8422 GRAVES ST,204, ALEXANDRIA, VA                                    31      January 12, 2010   82-1-6[46.2-300]  LICENSE: DRIVE W/O 
BENITEZ                MARIO                   ANTONIO              6089 BELLVIEW  DR FALLS_CHURCH, 101, FALLS CHURCH, VA 22041           39      January 13, 2010   4.1-306           ALCOHOL: PURCH FOR PERSON <21Y/INTERDICTED/INTOX 
BENTLEY                DAVID                   MICHAEL              702 MODOC LN, OXON HILL, MD                                           36      January 3, 2010    19.2-99           FUGITIVE: ARREST ON FELONY CHARGE PER 19.2-99 
BENTLEY                DAVID                   MICHAEL              702 MODOC LN, OXON HILL, MD                                           36      January 3, 2010    82-1-6[46.2-301]  LIC REVOKED: DR W/O LICENSE, 1 OFF 
BHATT                  NAVEEN                  P                    4582 LAGERSFIELD VIENNA, VIENNA, VA 22181                             30      January 23, 2010   82-1-6[46.2-300]  LICENSE: DRIVE W/O 
BLACK                  ANTHONY                 CHESTERDAY           7410 VERNON SQUARE DR, 302, ALEXANDRIA, VA 22306                      54      January 15, 2010   82-1-6[46.2-300]  LICENSE: DRIVE W/O 
BLEWETT                JOSEPH                  ROBERT               6931 OAKRIDGE ROAD, FALLS, VA 220422665                               46      February 4, 2010   82-1-6[18.2-266]  DWI: 1ST OFFENSE 
BLEWETT                JOSEPH                  ROBERT               6931 OAKRIDGE ROAD, FALLS, VA 220422665                               46      February 4, 2010   82-1-6[46.2-862]  RECKLE/20 MPH OVER LIMIT 
BLEWETT                JOSEPH                  ROBERT               6931 OAKRIDGE ROAD, FALLS, VA 220422665                               46      February 4, 2010   18.2-268.3        DWI: REFUSAL OF BLOOD OR BREATH TEST, 1 OFF 
BOAK                   DANIEL                  G                    14921 LAMPEC STREET, CENTREVILLE, VA 20120                            20      January 22, 2010   82-1-6[46.2-301]  LIC REVOKED: DR W/O LICENSE, 1 OFF

"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Good for you! I'm not a programmer so guess I won't try to glom off of your work. Still no change to the data today. I guess they're not even updating now. Guess they won't lose sleep tonight either, over not getting information that could be very helpful to citizens.

Looks like the list is back in order. There is still the space padding they added early this year but at least it is usable.

It's still a change in format and damned annoying. They dropped the code that allows you to organize the crime by type (traffic tickets vs murders) and leave the address fields blank if it's listed once. So for statistical purposes the format makes it difficult to look at 1) the type of arrest 2) the location of the arrest.

I do like how they added the section of the VA Code, but for for stat analysis, it's pretty useless. I wonder if anyone is ever consulted, or if they just dump it out any any format they like any time they like.

Guess I'll spend more time playing with Access and Excel.

I'll change part of that. I just discovered this data two weeks ago and withdraw the part of my rant having to do with the codes.

I'd even say that a "thank you" is in order for whoever it was that went back to them and had them fix the problem. It is much appreciated.

Mojo Risin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's still a change in format and damned annoying.
> They dropped the code that allows you to organize
> the crime by type (traffic tickets vs murders) and
> leave the address fields blank if it's listed
> once. So for statistical purposes the format
> makes it difficult to look at 1) the type of
> arrest 2) the location of the arrest.

they dont want it to be usable because then you could check their claims about crime.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

I don't see how to get a weekly e-mail sent to me. Would you mind posting the link or directing further where to find it?

(I can find the list that you have to visit each week, which will be a challenge to keep up with.) Thanks.

Ok, basically they are being sloppy to the point where you can't use the address information. The Feb. 11 data that I captured was immaculate. Now "1st OFF" might show up in the address field. State and zip are in the same cell, but it's a general mess there too. This makes it useless for "geocoding" and spatial analysis where you can tell someone how many arrests have been made within, say, 1/4 mile of a selected property.

Maybe they are just having problems right now. I guess I'll make a few more loose phone calls, but if this remains a problem, we should created a data committee. Just a committee that can meet with the government people responsible for providing information a few times a year. Just a little effort on their part to add a comma or whatever can save hours for those who use it. I'll bet that there are plenty of people who use this information that could get behind this.

Now back to struggling with other Fairfax county data after wasting a couple of hours on this.

Does anyone have an archive of this data? Be nice to have a fat zip of it to play with