Tutorial: BOLO Alerts

This tutorial teaches you the full BOLO Alerts workflow in Vigilant Church. You'll learn how to review alerts quickly, filter what matters, and, if your role allows it, create and manage alerts for your team.

By the end of this tutorial, you'll be able to:

- review active BOLO alerts with the right filters
- open an alert and understand its operational details
- create a new BOLO with the correct scope and severity
- update an alert when the situation changes
- resolve an alert when it no longer applies.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

- a Vigilant Church account
- access to the **BOLO** section
- administrator access if you want to create or manage alerts

> [!NOTE]
> All users can review BOLO alerts, but only admins can create, edit, resolve, or delete them.

What BOLO alerts are for

A BOLO helps your team spot something important quickly and consistently.

Common Types of BOLO & Typical Use

• Person: identify a known individual
• Vehicle: watch for a car or plate
• Behavior: identify concerning actions
• Object: watch for a suspicious item
• Location: draw attention to a place
• Other: capture situations that do not fit the standard types

Each alert also includes a severity level:

- High for urgent or elevated concern
- Medium for meaningful concern that needs awareness
- Low for informational awareness

Step 1: Review the active alert board

1. Open BOLO.
2. Leave the status filter on Active.
3. Set your campus filter if needed.
4. Scan the list for high-severity items first.

The BOLO board is designed for quick recognition. Most rows show:

- a thumbnail image or placeholder
- the title
- the type
- the severity
- the campus
- the date added

During a live shift, scan the list before your team briefing so you know which alerts are current before you step into traffic areas, entrances, or kids spaces.

Step 2: Filter and search for the right alert

1. Use the Campus filter to focus on one location or choose All campuses.
2. Use the Status filter to switch between Active, Resolved, and All alerts.
3. Use the Severity filter to focus on high, medium, or low alerts.
4. Enter a search term to match the title, description, type, or campus.

Search is useful when you remember part of the alert but not the full title.

Step 3: Open and interpret an alert

1. Select an alert from the list.
2. Review the title and severity first.
3. Read the full description.
4. Review all attached images.
5. Check who created or updated the alert and when it changed.

The detail view typically includes:

- **Alert Summary**
- **Current Status**
- **Report** or full description
- **Operational Details** such as type, severity, and timestamps
- **Images** for reference

The most useful details are often in the description, not just the headline. Read enough to understand what to watch for and what makes the alert relevant.

Step 4: Create a new BOLO

If your role allows management, you can add a new alert.

1. Open BOLO.
2. Select New BOLO.
3. Choose the Campus Scope.
- Select a specific campus when the alert is local.
- Select all locations only when every campus should see it.
4. Choose the Type.
5. Set the Severity.
6. Enter a clear Title.
7. Enter a detailed Description.
8. Upload or attach one or more images if available.
9. Leave the Status as Active unless you are entering a historical or already resolved item.
10. Select Create BOLO or Submit.

Good BOLO titles are specific and plain-language. Examples:

- Suspicious vehicle circling east lot
- Person previously removed from campus
- Unattended backpack near family entrance

Step 5: Write a useful BOLO description

A strong description helps the team identify the right thing without guessing.

Include:

- what to look for
- where it was seen
- when it was seen
- how urgent the concern is
- what action the team should take next

If images are available, add them. They make the alert much easier to use in the field.

Step 6: Update an alert when the situation changes

1. Open the alert details.
2. Select Edit.
3. Update the title, description, type, severity, status, campus, or images.
4. Save your changes.

Update an alert when:

- new identifying details are available
- better images are available
- the situation has escalated or de-escalated
- the campus scope needs to change

Step 7: Resolve or reopen an alert

1. Open the alert details.
2. Select Resolve when the situation is complete.
3. If the alert becomes relevant again, select Mark Active.

Resolved alerts stay available for reference but stop appearing in an active-only view.

Step 8: Delete an alert only when necessary

1. Open the BOLO details.
2. Select Delete.
3. Confirm the action.

Use deletion carefully. In most cases, resolving the alert is safer than deleting it.

Best practices

- Keep the title short and specific.
- Use the correct type and severity.
- Scope the alert to the right campus.
- Add images whenever you can.
- Update the alert as the situation changes.
- Resolve the alert promptly when it is no longer active.

Troubleshooting

- Issue: You cannot create a BOLO.
Solution: BOLO management is restricted to admins.

- Issue: You cannot find an alert someone mentioned.
Solution: Check your campus filter, switch the status filter to All, and try search.

- Issue: The images are missing.
Solution: Open the detail view and refresh the page or app. If images still do not load, submit a support ticket.

- Issue: The alert is still showing as active after the situation ended.
Solution: An admin needs to update the status to Resolved.