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| The Person Window allows basic demographic data to be entered for each person in the system, such as offenders, visitors, contacts, employees etc. |
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| The Additional Person Information Window records additional demographic data such as employment info, citizenship and languages, etc. |
The Person window is the starting point for accessing information about offenders. It records a variety of offender identifiers, including an offender number, a probation number, FPS number, SIN, SSN or other identifier, health number, driver's license number, etc. A single primary name and any number of aliases and nicknames can be entered, along with a physical description and picture are also available. The person window also links to additional demographic information including birthplace, citizenship, employment status, education, and language, etc.
Tabs at the bottom of the person window link to all other offender-related data in COMS including:
- Scheduled events for court appearances, probation hearings, medical appointments, reporting, etc. Events are visible on daily population and scheduled events reports for each institution, unit, or probation office.
- Charges for an offender can be viewed by clicking on the 'Charges' tab.
- Addresses. An offender can have any number of addresses and telephone numbers, either current or historical. Typically, an offender will have a single current residential address and possibly a current work address.
- Contacts and 'Contact for' links for emergency and other contacts, including information on contacting victims before the offender is released. When you create a 'Contact' link, a matching link appears in the contact person's 'Contact for' tab, providing access to contact information from either the offender or the contact.
- Cautions can be recorded for an offender, a visitor, or any other person in the system to warn of hazards to the institution, staff, or the offender. Common cautions include 'violent', 'mentally disordered', 'escape risk', and a variety of medical cautions. Cautions are prominently displayed: the name of any person with a caution always appears with an exclamation mark to provide immediate indication of the caution.
Visitors and institutional access information are tracked by COMS. When visitors, contractors, lawyers, or tradespeople have had any required security checks performed, you can record and store the results in COMS and make them available in all institutions. If you need to, you can take visitor pictures and/or print id cards.
Associations and separations indicate that the offender associates with particular individuals or groups (gangs), typically with a criminal purpose, or that the offender must be kept separate from particular individuals or groups.
Paper file locations can be tracked by COMS. When an offender moves from institution to institution, or from probation office to probation office, it is useful to track the current location of any paper files. It is particularly important to know where a paper file ends up when the offender's case is closed so that it can be found again if he is re-involved.
Running record entries can be made for an offender. The entries record any noteworthy information on a per-offender basis. All entries are date stamped and protected from modification. Only the author of a running record entry can modify it, and only for a limited time until the 'ink dries' and the entry becomes permanent. Shift logs are similar to running record entries, but are of relevance to all officers working in a unit or probation office. Unlike their hardcopy counterparts, the COMS logs are available everywhere in the institution or office automatically.
Reports written about an offender, whether court-ordered reports, or case management or release plans, etc. may be stored in COMS as a permanent part of the offender's file.
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