FAQs • Baton Rouge, LA • CivicEngage

Will the 2020 Census data be made available in Open Data BR?: Yes, once the preliminary population and demographic counts are released by the U.S. Census Bureau, this data will be made available in the Open Data BR and EBRGIS portals.

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Open Data BR

1. Why are there duplicate records in the Property Lookup by business name search results?: The reason for duplicate records in the Property Lookup is due to a single address being tied to many lots. Oftentimes businesses are built on several lots.

2. At one point the tabular data in Open Data BR was not separated into pages. Now it is separated into pages of 100 rows each. Why was that done and is there a way to reverse it?: Open Data BR has been developed on hosted software provided by Socrata. When we first launched ODBR there was no paging for the tabular data, but this changed a couple of years later after a new release by Socrata. Unfortunately, at this time there is no way to revert back since this is using a hosted solution.

3. The Baton Rouge Crime Incidents dataset displays more homicides than sexual assaults. That does not seem possible.: When using the Baton Rouge Crime Incidents dataset, please be mindful of the "Attempted" and "Committed" codes in the COMMITTED column of the Baton Rouge Crime Incidents dataset. For example, a shooting that does not end in death is coded as a “Homicide” in the CRIME column and "Attempted" in the COMMITTED column.

4. What are the six open data categories?: The six Open Data categories are: Housing and Development, Culture and Recreation, Government, Business and Financial, Public Safety, and Transportation and Infrastructure. For GIS data, there are two additional categories: Environment and Other Resources.

5. Do we access Open Data BR and Open Neighborhood BR via the http://my.brla.gov URL?: You can access Open Neighborhood BR from the Open Data BR homepage. The link to ONBR is http://my.brla.gov and the link to ODBR is http://data.brla.gov.

6. Are STIs, including HIV and hepatitis C included in any of these datasets in any way?: Currently, this type of data is not published in our Open Data BR platform.

7. Is there any data from Parish Health Units or local health departments available through City-Parish data portals?: The City-Parish does not really have a Health Unit, but we do publish all of the Louisiana Department of Health Retail Food Inspection data. This dataset was published beginning in January 2020 and usually updates on the 15^th of each month.

8. There was recently an incident in my neighborhood that involved multiple fire trucks, but it wasn’t listed in Open Neighborhood. Who decides what incidents get listed for fire, police, etc.?: Perhaps your neighborhood is not within the city limits of Baton Rouge. Open Neighborhood BR only provides police and fire incidents for the Baton Rouge Police and Fire departments.

9. What is the URL for the EBRGIS website?: The EBRGIS Program homepage can be accessed at https://gis.brla.gov.

10. How can I access more tools in the EBRGIS site?: You can sign up for a free developer account here: https://developers.arcgis.com.

11. What is the "Deprecated" status for a dataset?: A deprecated dataset in the EBRGIS Portal refers to one that is no longer being maintained and will be removed completely at the end of the 2020. In most cases, a new authoritative dataset has replaced the deprecated one.

12. Outside of the Citizen Data Academy, is there a standing group meeting?: As part of its digital initiatives, the Department of Information Services will continue to develop the Citizen Data Academy, building on the successes and improving the way citizens can engage with the City-Parish. At this time there are no recurring group meetings, but in following the Citizen Engagement Maturity Path, the City-Parish seeks to sustain collaboration with community groups that have their own initiatives.

13. Will the 2020 Census data be made available in Open Data BR?: Yes, once the preliminary population and demographic counts are released by the U.S. Census Bureau, this data will be made available in the Open Data BR and EBRGIS portals.