If you've recently been given access to our sandbox environment to review your migrated database, here are some quick tips to help you navigate Informant if you're using it for the first time, and general tips for how to do a review of migrated data.


Summary


How to open an Incident record/case report in Informant


Informant stores incident/case reports in the Incident module. In other systems, this might be called "case report" or similar. When performing a database review, we recommend focusing on these records as they will contain the most level of detail, and you can easily view other records linked to them (such as suspects, vehicles, related property, etc.).


Note: Incident records or their closest equivalent are always migrated from your other RMS in a data migration. Other records are migrated where possible, but this can vary based on the RMS you are migrating from.


To open an Incident record in Informant:

  1. Click on the Incident module on the main toolbar to switch to the Incident module.
  2. Click Find to open the Find window.
  3. In the Find Incident window, enter the incident ID or case number for the incident/case you want to review in the Incident ID field, and click Find Now or press the Enter key.
  4. Compare the data from Informant with records/reports in your original RMS and make sure everything looks correct. Click through the folders and tabs in the record to view different sections of the record. Alternatively, click Print to generate an Incident report for the record to see all the data in the record in one report. In the Print Setup dialog, click Preview to generate a preview of the report that you can view on your screen.


How to open master index records linked to an Incident


You can open records linked to an Incident by clicking the corresponding folder and then double-clicking the desired record in the list that appears. For example, if the Incident contains suspects, you can click the Suspects folder and then double-click any suspect in the list of suspects to open the corresponding master index Person record. This applies to Victims, Associates, Properties, and Vehicles as well in an Incident record.


How to generate a Criminal Complaint/Juvenile Allegation


If your previous RMS stored PA criminal complaints or PA juvenile allegations, you can also generate the corresponding forms in Informant to compare with what was in your previous RMS.


To do this:


  1. Open the Incident corresponding to the criminal complaint or juvenile allegation.
  2. Click on the Suspects folder and then click the name of the defendant in the list of suspects.
  3. Click on the drop-down arrow next to Print in the record toolbar and select Criminal Complaint or Juvenile Allegation (as applicable) to generate the corresponding form in Informant. In the Print Setup dialog, select Preview to generate a preview that you can view on the screen to compare with a hard copy or what's in your previous RMS.


Note: If you don't see the Criminal Complaint or Juvenile Allegation options, there may not be one for the suspect, or it may not have been migrated. Let us know if the option is missing in cases where it should be there, as this may indicate an issue with your migration.


General tips for reviewing records


Below are general guidelines for how to review your migrated records to ensure data has come over correctly from your previous RMS:


  • Review records entered a few weeks before the backup you sent us: Because you'll be reviewing data migrated from a backup of your current RMS data, more recent records may either be missing or may be incomplete (such as missing narratives or supplementals) if officers were still working on those records at the time that your data was backed up. To counter this and prevent reporting issues that may simply be due to the data not being present, we ask that you review records from a few weeks before the backup was taken to increase the likelihood that you're reviewing complete records.
  • Review a small random sample of records: Review a small sample of records chosen at random, checking Incident records and any records linked to them (persons, vehicles, property, etc.) to ensure everything is coming over correctly. If you still have access to your old RMS system, we highly recommend comparing records side-by-side to ensure the data has been migrated as expected. A quick way to do this is to print an Incident report from Informant and from your current RMS and compare them side by side.
  • What to look for: Make sure important data has migrated over correctly, such as confirming that your incidents have all the suspects/victims/offenses you expect, and that fields are populated with the correct data for each record.
  • Keep a running list of any discrepancies or questions in a document or spreadsheet to share with our team: We highly recommend maintaining a document that lists any issues or questions you encounter as you do your review. If you find a potential issue with a record, include the record ID with your notes so that our team can cross-reference anything you find on our end. At the end of the review period, you can then share your notes with our team, and we'll go over anything you find.


Use the Informant Help Center for additional help, or reach out to us


Informant's built-in Help Center also contains more information about navigating and using Informant. To access the Help Center:

  1. Click on Help on the top menu bar and then select Informant Help Center.
  2. With the Informant Help Center open, click on “Getting started with Informant (for end-users)” for a quick-start guide on navigating and using Informant.


You can also reach out to our support team via email or by phone during normal business hours: Contact us