Part Two: Finding Similar Reports from the User Interface

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In part one, Configuring a Find Similar Toolbar Item in SAS Law Enforcement Intelligence, we configured a Find Similar toolbar item in the administrator interface. If you have not read part one yet, you may want to start there first, because the user interface experience depends on the administrator configuration already being in place.

Now let’s switch to see the control from the user’s perspective.

Imagine an officer reviewing a Crime Report titled Auto Crime. The report may look routine on its own, but what if there are similar reports nearby? What if the same type of offense has occurred in the same general area? What if another report contains details that help identify a pattern?

Instead of leaving the Crime Report, opening a new search, remembering what to search for, and manually comparing results, the user can launch the Find Similar toolbar item directly from the Crime Report object. This brings the search to the user, right where they are already working.

For this example, the Find Similar toolbar item has already been configured by the administrator on the Crime Report object. We see there are 6 similar reports to the open Crime Report.

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When clicked, the pane opens and the preview results table displays matching results.

Preview results was enabled, so the user can see search results directly in the Find Similar window. Changing the value in one of the available fields automatically runs the search again and the returned search results update. In this example, the user can search using Title and/or Category values or narrow the search geographically by radius.

If a field is left blank, that value is not used in the query. This gives users flexibility. They can search broadly when they have limited information or narrow the search when they want more specific results. This can help users identify patterns, compare related information, and investigate possible connections between reports more efficiently. One report may be interesting, two similar reports may be worth reviewing, but several similar reports in the same area could tell a much bigger story. The Find Similar toolbar item helps users look for those connections faster.

Now you know how the Find Similar toolbar item works from both sides. In part one, we configured the toolbar item in the administrator interface. In part two, we confirmed the user experience by opening a Crime Report and launching the Similar Reports toolbar item from the object toolbar. So, the next time you are watching a crime show and find yourself yelling, “Has anyone checked for similar reports?” you can confidently say that SAS Law Enforcement Intelligence has a way to help users do exactly that.

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