Solution posted for both Occupied Escape Pods and Personal Effects. I have a separate solution posted for Black Boxes, but do note you will find some Black Boxes doing this, so I advise doing this first.
I was having a bit of trouble finding consistent Degraded Emissions at first. So I decided to read a bit into the background simulation and do a bit of testing.
What I've come up with as seemingly the most consistent way to find them is a combination of Low Security, High Population, and cruising in Deep Space but not too Deep. So the system that I found that embodies this perfectly is LTT 16385. Head about 100ls up over the Solar System (helps to have Orbit Lines on, if you don't). After that, set your thrusters in the blue zone and just cruise around in the bits considering themselves Deep Space, but try and stay above the Solar System and within 1,000ls of the main star.
Don't be discouraged by duds, or ones with low numbers (or illegal, do note that illegal ones DO NOT COUNT as they cannot be turned in) of either commodity. You will find the occasional big haul. The really good ones are the ones you'll see with Rescue ships - these often have high numbers of various commodities, including high multiples of Occupied Escape Pods, and Personal Effects. I found one with ten Occupied Escape Pods.
The system does have a full size Starport with an active Search & Rescue Contact very close to the star, so feel free to just chill in this system until you're done with Occupied Escape Pods and Personal Effects. As mentioned, I have a different method for Black Boxes that's ungodly quick compared to finding 50 in Signal Sources, so use that to mop up.