BOLO Flyer Creator Version 2

Mentor(s):

Masoud Sadjadi

Instructor:

Masoud Sadjadi

Description:

BOLOS, or Be On the Look Outs, is a law enforcement term that describes the way information is shared amongst police officers and between police agencies. A BOLO is distributed in several ways: over the police radio, via Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) message or as BOLO flyer. When a crime is committed and the responding patrol officer completes a police report with the details. The report is submitted for approval and is validated by the records function of the department. The report is then distributed to the investigations division for review. The investigations supervisor reads the report and assigns it to a detective. The detective or analyst creates the flyer and sends it via email, usually to one or a few representatives at other departments, not to the patrol officers. The recipient would then have to forward it to all personnel within his or her agency. This process can take from a few days to a few weeks depending on the agency. This is where the idea for the BOLO Flyer Creator came from, the need of having a system that would allow police officers to share BOLOs in real time and automatically, at the moment a crime is being reported, with as many police agencies as possible.