METHOD CHECK · SAN FRANCISCO · JANUARY–MAY 2025

How close do intersection-radius counts come to building-level dispatch records?

← Open the Dorsey PSH dispatch dashboard, video, transcript, and Cohen–Smuts response

← HSH maps and graphs on Bluoz

The method produces very different results by building. Narrow radii often miss calls; wider radii capture substantial surrounding activity. A numerical match at a few sites does not validate building attribution across the portfolio.

This is a diagnostic comparison, not a measured accuracy rate. Public “Medical Incident” calls and the letter’s EMS category are not documented as identical. Neither dataset supplies the paired call IDs needed here to label individual proximity matches as correct or incorrect.

Related dashboard correction · October 18, 2026

John Burton Housing’s official “all incidents” row appears cumulative and was incorrectly summed in the earlier Dorsey dashboard. Its disputed combined figures are now excluded from that dashboard’s totals and rankings and from the official-dispatch map. This page’s comparison statistics use official EMS, not “all incidents,” so the numerical results here are unchanged. The PDF’s printed row still needs DEM clarification; no inferred replacement counts are used.

What was compared

The Dorsey dashboard contains the full monthly official tables, Dorsey’s June 17, 2025 video and transcript, the response timeline, and the Grand Jury connection.

The original proximity page covers June 14–September 11, 2026. The Cohen–Smuts tables stop in June 2025, so their displayed totals cannot be compared directly. This analysis reruns the same distance approach for January 1–May 31, 2025. June is excluded because the original inquiry was made June 17 and the table’s June cutoff is not explicit.

Portfolio diagnostic: 101 sites

RadiusPublic nearby medical counts*Official EMSCount ratio*Sites with zero nearby medicalRank correlation**
100 ft2,9064,5730.64×76/101-0.15
250 ft20,2684,5734.43×3/1010.17
500 ft64,0124,57314.00×0/1010.18

*Sums of site-level proximity counts can count the same call near multiple buildings; these are not unduplicated citywide totals. Ratios are differences in observed counts, not a claim that every excess call is misclassified. **Spearman rank correlation; 1 means matching rank order, 0 means little monotonic relationship. The low correlations here do not support reliable building rankings from these radius counts.

At 100 feet, 76 of the 101 sites have zero public medical matches despite positive official EMS totals. At 250 feet, the summed nearby counts are 4.43 times the official EMS total; at 500 feet they are approximately 14 times as large. No radius is consistently close across the matched portfolio.

Four examples

SiteMapped addressOfficial EMSEMS monthsMedical 100 ftMedical 250 ftMedical 500 ftAll public Fire/EMS 100 ftAll public Fire/EMS 250 ftAll public Fire/EMS 500 ftOfficial fireFire monthsName matchSummary sample
Seneca Hotel34 6th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103805/50311115804411717975/5normalized nameIncluded
HomeRise at Mission Bay410 China Basin Street, San Francisco, CA 94158755/5001240014463/5reviewed name aliasIncluded
Tahanan833 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA1485/5144159307201224390555/5normalized nameIncluded
Vera Haile121 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94102695/5024712780291162495/5reviewed name aliasIncluded

Seneca and HomeRise illustrate missed nearby counts at small radii. Seneca and Vera Haile illustrate large surrounding-area counts at wider radii. Tahanan’s 144 medical calls within 100 feet are numerically close to its 148 official EMS calls, but aggregate proximity does not establish that they are the same incidents.

Why a building call can disappear from a 100-foot search

A call originating inside a building can be displayed publicly at a nearby intersection or call-box location more than 100 feet from the building’s mapped point. A radius search measures distance to that published point, not necessarily to the original incident address. It can therefore miss a real building call.

This is why “zero public medical matches within 100 feet” does not mean “zero EMS calls at the building.” Conversely, a dot near a building does not prove that the call originated there. Increasing the radius may recover displaced calls while also including calls from neighboring properties and streets.

The 76-of-101 result demonstrates disagreement between the radius counts and the official address-level EMS totals; it does not establish the original address of any particular public call or prove that location masking accounts for every difference. Site-coordinate placement and differences between public “Medical Incident” and official EMS categories can also contribute.

How to verify individual calls: obtain an address-specific DEM dispatch list for the same period, then match it to public records using a shared CAD/call or incident number. If shared identifiers are unavailable, date, time, call type and nearby location can support candidate matches, with uncertainty retained. The monthly Cohen–Smuts tables do not contain individual timestamps or call identifiers, so they cannot perform that verification. A one-month Seneca pilot would be a practical starting point.

Interpretation

The original proximity page remains useful as a view of emergency activity near service sites. This test does not support relabeling its circles as calls originating at those buildings. Public location masking, site-coordinate placement, neighborhood activity and overlapping circles can all affect the result; this comparison cannot isolate their individual contributions.

The public Fire/EMS dataset does not measure police-only incidents. The official “all incidents” category includes police, so it is not a valid benchmark for public Fire/EMS totals. Official EMS and fire counts overlap; they are shown separately and are never added to manufacture a combined benchmark. Likewise, public non-medical calls are not assumed to equal the official fire category.

For a direct validation, obtain the exact address definitions and comparable incident-level identifiers, dates and service flags from DEM, then test each radius against those records. The PDF aggregates cannot establish precision, recall, false-positive rate or the percentage of building calls recovered.

All 114 candidate site matches

SiteMapped addressOfficial EMSEMS monthsMedical 100 ftMedical 250 ftMedical 500 ftAll public Fire/EMS 100 ftAll public Fire/EMS 250 ftAll public Fire/EMS 500 ftOfficial fireFire monthsName matchSummary sample
Tahanan833 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA1485/5144159307201224390555/5normalized nameIncluded
Richardson Apartments365 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA, 941021455/501782550227342345/5reviewed name aliasIncluded
Rene Cazenave Apartments25 Essex Street, San Francisco, CA, 941051405/501451920172249255/5reviewed name aliasIncluded
Henry Hotel106 6th Street, San Francisco, CA, 941031205/507331217010211636165/5normalized nameIncluded
Hartland Hotel909 Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, CA, 941091105/5932648291153151025175/5normalized nameIncluded
Civic Center Residence44 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA, 941021005/50163104302331282535/5normalized nameIncluded
Arlington Residence480 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102975/50273139303961787145/5normalized nameIncluded
Le Nain Hotel730 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102945/502424400313620223/5normalized nameIncluded
Empress144 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102905/50323111204061414255/5normalized nameIncluded
Mission Creek Senior Community225 Berry Street, San Francisco, CA, 94158875/50019900244115/5normalized nameIncluded
Crosby Hotel516 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102855/5020490002471163245/5normalized nameIncluded
Plaza Apartments988 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102845/503106390442849265/5normalized nameIncluded
Seneca Hotel34 6th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103805/50311115804411717975/5normalized nameIncluded
The Margot1321 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103805/595236477146307620445/5normalized nameIncluded
Mission Hotel520 S Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94110775/501773500219432135/5normalized nameIncluded
Dalt Hotel34 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102765/50183129702431748345/5normalized nameIncluded
HomeRise at Mission Bay410 China Basin Street, San Francisco, CA 94158755/5001240014463/5reviewed name aliasIncluded
Stanford Hotel250 Kearny Street, San Francisco, CA, 94108755/5090121010815574/5normalized nameIncluded
Vera Haile121 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94102695/5024712780291162495/5reviewed name aliasIncluded
Bayanihan House88 6th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103685/5055910440813146265/5normalized nameIncluded
990 Polk990 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA, 94109675/501728410215102894/5reviewed name aliasIncluded
Windsor Hotel238 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102675/5031613390393170553/5normalized nameIncluded
Kelly Cullen Community220 Golden Gate Avenue San Francisco, CA, 94102665/5034682204481094155/5normalized nameIncluded
Alder Hotel175 6th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103635/517231011522394421597335/5normalized nameIncluded
City Gardens333 12th Street, San Francisco CA 94103605/507512709017085/5normalized nameIncluded
Hamlin Hotel385 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102605/50499129706091722174/5normalized nameIncluded
Treasure Island Maceo May1432 Halibut Court, San Francisco CA 94130605/50410041383/5normalized nameIncluded
Coronet Senior Housing3575 Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, CA, 94118585/506491086119185/5normalized nameIncluded
Dr. Davis Senior Community1751 Carroll Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94124585/50080009985/5normalized nameIncluded
Canon Kip Community House705 Natoma Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103565/502074980256716195/5normalized nameIncluded
Post Hotel589 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94102555/5679421684117320155/5normalized nameIncluded
Winton Hotel445 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102545/5098748011892264/5normalized nameIncluded
West Hotel141 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102525/50323111204061414105/5normalized nameIncluded
Bishop Swing Community House275 10th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103515/50306390034347064/5normalized nameIncluded
600 7th Street600 7th St, San Francisco, CA 94103475/55463746984107145/5reviewed name aliasIncluded
Edith Witt Senior Community66 9th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103475/514035746216945058463/5normalized nameIncluded
149 Mason149 Mason Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102445/5032838044104062/5reviewed name aliasIncluded
Auburn Hotel481 Minna Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103445/5034610860447151595/5normalized nameIncluded
Armstrong Place Senior Housing5600 3rd Street, San Francisco, CA, 94124435/552566456627421/5normalized nameIncluded
National Hotel1139 Market Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103435/501863300224386133/5normalized nameIncluded
Veterans Commons150 Otis Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103435/5055130086216235/5normalized nameIncluded
Diva Hotel440 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94102415/501493390207461125/5normalized nameIncluded
Edwin M. Lee1150 3rd Street,San Francisco, CA 94158415/569692228989270115/5normalized nameIncluded
Boyd Hotel41 Jones Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102405/5029410430342128283/5normalized nameIncluded
Iroquois Hotel835 O'Farrell Street San Francisco CA 9410405/5013287901891106195/5normalized nameIncluded
Mentone Hotel387 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102395/52672991273317368155784/5normalized nameIncluded
Jefferson Hotel440 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA, 94109385/5038112010468158652/5normalized nameIncluded
Lyric Hotel140 Jones Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102385/5048280406331038184/5normalized nameIncluded
Senator Hotel519 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA 94109385/50273112203961485275/5normalized nameIncluded
Aranda Hotel64 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102375/50149118602001502165/5normalized nameIncluded
Graystone Hotel66 Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, CA, 94108375/501210401813453/5normalized nameIncluded
William Penn Hotel160 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102375/503169150393115563/5normalized nameIncluded
Granada Hotel1000 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94109365/50913790146605174/5normalized nameIncluded
Cambridge473 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102355/50273128803961657395/5normalized nameIncluded
Jazzie Collins Apartments53 Colton Street, San Francisco, CA355/514561962682308134/5normalized nameIncluded
McAllister Hotel270 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102335/50762340105319165/5normalized nameIncluded
Rose Hotel125 6th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103335/50733104301021146374/5normalized nameIncluded
Elm Hotel364 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102325/5049913610609174884/5normalized nameIncluded
Willie B. Kennedy1239 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA, 94115325/504216805624643/5reviewed name aliasIncluded
Elk Hotel670 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA, 94109315/502426590313836145/5normalized nameIncluded
Royan Hotel405 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94103315/58014427811221537621/5normalized nameIncluded
Dudley Apartments172 6th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103305/5036015270503205053/5normalized nameIncluded
Union Hotel811 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA, 94109305/50151714020390344/5normalized nameIncluded
Altamont Hotel3048 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103295/527829356435236770453/5normalized nameIncluded
Fairfax Hotel420 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA, 94109295/5038112010468158632/5normalized nameIncluded
Raman Hotel1011 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103295/50247496033767533/5normalized nameIncluded
Hillsdale Hotel51 6th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103285/5031111580441171752/5normalized nameIncluded
Parkview Terrace871 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA265/5042213064312124/5normalized nameIncluded
Ritz Hotel216 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102265/534316962493931184215/5normalized nameIncluded
Vincent Hotel459 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102255/504127206236994/5normalized nameIncluded
Camelot Hotel124 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102245/5018711610243160394/5normalized nameIncluded
San Cristina1000 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102245/5011112360246166333/5normalized nameIncluded
Arnett Watson Apartments650 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA, 94109235/50906490108828104/5normalized nameIncluded
Minna Lee Hotel149 6th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103235/5034610930447152411/5normalized nameIncluded
Pierre Hotel540 Jones Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102235/50351658046083521/5normalized nameIncluded
Casa de la Misión3001 24th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110225/540426956588911/5reviewed name aliasIncluded
Garland Hotel505 O'Farrell St, San Francisco, CA 94102225/5204225825247284106042/5normalized nameIncluded
Verona Hotel317 Leavenworth Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102225/536938110594484681386—0/5normalized nameIncluded
1180 4TH ST1180 4th Street, San Francisco, CA 94158215/50551056684/5reviewed name aliasIncluded
Broadway Sansome Apartments255 Broadway Street, San Francisco, CA, 94133215/50294103555—0/5normalized nameIncluded
Edgeworth Hotel770 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA, 94109215/502438600300107811/5normalized nameIncluded
Mary Helen Rogers Senior Community701 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94102215/527651974191288115/5normalized nameIncluded
Midori Hotel240 Hyde Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102215/502959880370127053/5normalized nameIncluded
735 Davis Senior735 Davis Street, San Francsico, CA 94111205/5023520318931/5normalized nameIncluded
Bayview Hill Gardens1075 Le Conte Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94124205/5022270304343/5normalized nameIncluded
Essex Hotel684 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA, 94109205/52242968482613581075134/5normalized nameIncluded
Veterans Academy1030 Girard Road, San Francisco, CA, 94129205/5029300454663/5normalized nameIncluded
Knox Apartments241 6th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103195/55962452738262722/5normalized nameIncluded
Railton242 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102185/5033110240454132611/5reviewed name aliasIncluded
Allen Hotel1693 Market Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102175/5092230013033874/5normalized nameIncluded
Crown Hotel528 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA, 94110175/507428609137454/5normalized nameIncluded
Coronado Hotel373 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102164/5029112730355155775/5normalized nameExcluded
All Star Hotel2791 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103145/5093930136136145/5normalized nameIncluded
Mary Elizabeth Inn1040 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA, 94109145/503112304220654/5normalized nameIncluded
Zygmunt Arendt House850 Broderick Street, San Francisco, CA, 94115145/518184329296263/5normalized nameIncluded
John Burton Housing800 Presidio Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94115135/520203223234311/5reviewed name aliasIncluded
Pacific Bay Inn520 Jones Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102135/502979340357117474/5normalized nameIncluded
Artmar Hotel433 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA 94102125/5040914230496180621/5normalized nameIncluded
Hotel Isabel1095 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103125/58613445710116956342/5normalized nameIncluded
Mayfair Hotel626 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102123/50120388014752433/5normalized nameExcluded
Star Hotel2176 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA, 94110125/505513407919754/5normalized nameIncluded
Eddy Street Apartments425 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA, 94109114/5038112220468158873/5normalized nameExcluded
321 Turk321 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102103/50155104502131331—0/5reviewed name aliasExcluded
Aarti Hotel391 Leavenworth St, San Francisco, CA 9410285/5273319997396457131943/5normalized nameIncluded
Edward II3155 Scott Street , San Francisco, CA, 9412385/5273357293870—0/5normalized nameIncluded
Casa Quezada35 Woodward Street, San Francisco, CA, 9410354/50195307025341922/5normalized nameExcluded
Rita de Cascia1652 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA 9411532/501610102214332/5normalized nameExcluded
Ellis Street Apartments864 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA, 9410922/504553205472633/5normalized nameExcluded
El Dorado150 9th Street, San Francisco, CA, 9410311/57263261642424—0/5normalized nameExcluded
1100 Ocean Ave1100 Ocean Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94112—0/5057134066158—0/5reviewed name aliasExcluded
Eddy and Taylor210 Taylor Street, San Francisco, CA 94102—0/504117660505955—0/5normalized nameExcluded
Island Bay HomesMultiple Sites—0/52931893943123—0/5normalized nameExcluded
Kinney Hotel410 Eddy Street—0/5463811201614681586—0/5normalized nameExcluded
Monterey Boulevard Apartments403 Monterey Boulevard, San Francisco, CA 94127—0/545135816—0/5normalized nameExcluded

Blank official months are excluded from sums, not converted to zero. Only sites with five numeric EMS months and a positive total contribute to the summary. Rows are sorted by official recorded EMS count.

Unmatched official site names (41)

1036 Mission; 1064-66 Mission; 10th and Mission; 1178 Folsom; 1296 Shotwell; 180 Jones; 1950 Mission; 270 Turk; 383 6th Avenue; 455 Fell Street; 5th Street Apartments; 626 Mission Bay; 681 Florida; 835 Turk; 95 Laguna Senior Housing; Abigail Hotel; Ambassador Hotel; Apollo Hotel; Baldwin; Bristol Hotel; Cadillac Hotel; Caldrake Arms Hotel; Canon Barcus Community House; Casa Adelante; Casa Colibri; Casa Esperanza; Cecil Williams; Curran House; Curry Senior Center; Felton Institute; Folsom/Dore; Franciscan Towers; Hazel Betsey; Juan Pifarre Plaza; Looper; Mosaica; Richardson Hall; South Park Residence - Gran Oriente; South Park Residence - Hotel Madrid; South Park Residence - Park View; Star View Court

Sources and reproducibility

Normalized matching removes punctuation and the generic terms hotel, apartments and residence. Fourteen additional matches use reviewed name variants, displayed in the CSV. No fuzzy match was automatically accepted. A matched name does not certify the historical operator, mapped coordinate, or full address used by DEM. Coordinates were not relocated to improve agreement.

The embedded download includes all radius counts, source pages, official monthly coverage and both site-name variants. All computed values are embedded; no live API is needed to open this report.