Our Tags
[THE METHODS WE USED FOR ESTABLISHING OUR TAGGING WORK]
Contents
Summary
Tags are keywords applied to datasets that describe the data in a non-hierarchical way. We’re applying tags to the APCO standard for 911 incident types. The tags give us a better sense of the types of 911 incidents that don’t require an armed law enforcement response. This tagging work has 3 phases:
Identify tags - We identified useful tags by talking to subject-matter experts in the 911/incident diversion field.
Apply tags - Then, we applied the tags in Airtable to the most recent list of APCO 911 incident types.
Review tags - We reviewed the tags as a group and synthesized the codes that have a particular tag.
Our process
1. Identify tags
1) Conduct interviews with subject-matter experts (SMEs)
Reimagine911 staff interview SMEs (subject-matter experts) to better understand types of 911 incidents that don't need an armed law enforcement response.
2) Propose tags
Reimagine911 staff develop a list of tags (with descriptions) that help identify these types of incidents based on these criteria:
Extent - Does the tag apply to many APCO codes (vs. just a few)?
Diversion - Does the tag correspond to potential police diversion?
Scenario - Can we identify the tag scenario in the APCO codes?
3) Approve tags
Reimagine911 staff + Incident Classification volunteers approve or deny tags after making a first attempt to apply the tags to APCO codes.
2. Apply tags
1) Choose tags
Reimagine911 staff + Incidence Classification volunteers choose one tag to apply to the master list of APCO codes in an Airtable base.
2) Apply tags (Applied 1x)
Each person applies their tag at least once and updates the status field to track progress.
3) Continue applying tags
Then they choose another tag to apply that hasn’t been applied 3 times yet.
3. Review tags
1) Approve tags
Reimagine911 staff check the Airtable base for tags that have been applied 3 times. They’ll synthesize the APCO codes that staff and volunteers have applied the tag to into one group.
2) Repeat!
This process repeats until all tags are applied, synthesized, and approved.
Learnings (so far)
Tags apply sometimes, not always
Tags won’t apply to all situations categorized under an APCO code because a code could include a variety of incidents.
💡 Example - Not all individual 911 incidents categorized under the APCO code ASSAULT (WITH OR WITHOUT INJURY*)* involve alcohol. But some assaults do involve alcohol.
It’s still useful to document this “sometimes” relationship between assault and alcohol because we’re standardizing large datasets across multiple jurisdictions. Jurisdictions record 911 incidents in different ways with different definitions.
Tags connect APCO codes
Tags connect APCO codes in a non-hierarchical way.
💡 Example - We tagged the APCO codes CU2 (CIVIL UNREST NON-VIOLENT) and DMPX (PERSON DUMPING RUBBISH, IN PROGRESS) with “Non life-threatening.”
With tags, we can draw a relationship between seemingly unrelated 911 incidents, like non-violent civil unrest and dumping rubbish. Applied to large datasets across multiple jurisdictions, we start to understand the volume of incidents that may not require an armed law enforcement response.
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