docs: def get_locations(self):
  
          '''
              a method to retrieve all the locations tracked by the model
              
          :return: dictionary with location id keys
          
          NOTE:   results are added to self.locations property
          
          {
              'location.id': {
                  '
              }
          }
          '''
          
          import requests
          url = self.endpoint + '/locations'
          params = {
              'group': self.group_name
          }
          response = requests.get(url, params=params)
          response_details = response.json()
          if 'locations' in response_details.keys():
              self.locations = response_details['locations']
              
          return self.locations