Editor’s Note:
This post series wouldn’t be possible without our friends at Derby City Watch and their hard work. Please consider supporting them through: https://buymeacoffee.com/derbycitywatch
It’s stated plainly on their site and I’ll reiterate it here…
This site (and our synthesized analysis) is for informational purposes only. Information is processed automatically and may contain errors or omissions. For official information about emergencies or public safety matters, please contact Louisville Metro Police (502-574-LMPD) or visit official city resources.
— Jay
What Derby City Watch Does
Derby City Watch monitors Louisville Metro Police and Fire scanner traffic in near real-time, transcribing and publishing publicly accessible emergency communications.
They cover LMPD, Louisville Fire & Rescue, EMS responses, and major incidents across Jefferson County. Updates post automatically throughout the day. High-activity periods generate frequent updates. Quiet periods show fewer posts.
Their daily digests organize scanner activity by date. The live feed shows real-time transcription.
What Scanner Data Actually Shows
Scanner transcription is not crime statistics.
It's emergency system load - what 911 dispatch is handling, how resources deploy, which units respond to what types of calls.
Official crime stats from LMPD come monthly. They show arrests, charges, case outcomes, crime trends by category and neighborhood. They're retrospective and filtered through reporting and investigation processes.
Scanner data shows what's happening now: medical emergencies, fire alarms, traffic incidents, domestic disturbances, shots fired calls, vehicle pursuits. It shows call volume, response coordination, resource allocation in real time.
The difference matters.
LMPD crime stats tell you what crimes were reported and investigated. Scanner data tells you what's pulling emergency units off the street at 3 a.m. on a Tuesday.
Why We Synthesize Derby City Watch Data
Weekly Louisville newsletter includes Derby City Watch digests because scanner traffic reveals patterns official stats don't capture.
What scanner synthesis shows:
Call volume distribution: Medical emergencies dominate (267 medical calls vs. 14 shooting incidents in Dec 16-23 week). Gun violence gets headlines, but cardiac arrest and overdoses are the volume driver.
Resource allocation patterns: Multi-unit responses to medical crises, high-speed pursuits locking down officers, false alarms pulling fire units from rotation.
Geographic concentration: Which neighborhoods see repeated calls, which incidents cluster in specific areas, how emergency response spreads across the city.
System capacity stress: When simultaneous emergencies hit, response times stretch. Scanner traffic shows those pressure points.
What "public safety" actually means on the ground: It's chest pain calls, stroke responses, breathing difficulties, falls, overdoses—not just crime enforcement.
Our Synthesis Approach
We pull Derby City Watch daily digests for the week, identify patterns, and extract mechanisms.
What we look for:
Call type distribution (medical, fire, traffic, violence, disturbances)
Volume patterns (what dominates the week vs. what gets attention)
Multi-unit responses (what requires coordination and resources)
Geographic patterns (where calls concentrate)
System stress indicators (simultaneous emergencies, pursuit impacts)
What we don't do:
Sensationalize individual incidents
Treat scanner activity as official crime data
Fear-monger about safety without context
Ignore the fact that most 911 calls are health crises, not violence
Reporter stance:
We explain what happened, show the volume distribution, reveal the mechanism. We don't prescribe safety measures or tell readers what to do. We present the pattern clearly and let the data speak.
Scanner transcription has constraints:
Transcription errors occur: Automated processing of radio traffic isn't perfect. Addresses, names, details can be wrong.
Incomplete capture: Not every incident gets captured. Some calls stay off scanner. Some responses don't generate radio traffic.
No outcomes data: Scanner shows dispatch and response, not arrests, charges, hospital status, or case resolution.
Geographic bias: Areas with higher scanner activity appear more frequently. Doesn't mean other areas are incident-free.
Privacy filtering: Derby City Watch avoids publishing sensitive personal information and private residence addresses when possible.
This is community-sourced observation, not official reporting.
For official information, contact LMPD (502-574-LMPD) or visit city resources.
Why This Matters for Our Readers
Louisville's emergency system is infrastructure.
When you understand call volume patterns (what pulls resources, what creates response delays, what the system handles daily) you understand how public safety actually works.
Official crime stats matter. Scanner data matters differently.
One shows what gets investigated. The other shows what gets responded to.
Both tell part of the story. We include Derby City Watch synthesis because the real-time emergency load reveals constraints official stats don't capture.
The mechanism: When 911 response depends on unit availability and call volume, community awareness becomes part of the infrastructure.
Derby City Watch provides that visibility. We synthesize it weekly so readers see the pattern, not just the incidents.
Derby City Watch: derbycitywatch.com
Disclaimer: Information processed automatically. May contain errors or omissions. Not official police reporting.
Again, if you find value in this information, please consider supporting our friends at Derby City Watch with a coffee https://buymeacoffee.com/derbycitywatch