Tags are a versatile tool that can be utilized to improve your reporting capabilities. You decide which tags are added to the system so the possibilities are endless.
Note: To add and edit tags, and apply them to cases, the Tag Manager Module must be enabled. For more information about enabling the Tag Manager Module, see the article: What is the Tag Manager Module?
You must also have the Defendant Manager Module enabled. This must be done by an administrator on your account. To learn more, see the article: What is the Defendant Manager Module?
This article is provided to give you some examples of how you can use tags to easily organize and reference Defendant's information. These are only suggestions you and your team can create as many tags as you would like so please try these, or come up with some of your own! For a full list of tag examples please see the article: What Are Some Examples of Tags That I Can Create?
Let's take a look at some examples of Tag Categories:
Note: Adding tags and categories must be done by an administrator on your account. For more information about creating tags and categories in your software, see the article: How do I add and edit Tags?
Tags are added to various objects within the software. The type of Tags offered are Case, Client, Defendant, Location, Event, Victimization, and Service and will depend on the Modules that are enabled in your VSTracking account. For more information about the Modules available see the article What are Modules? This article will focus on the Defendant Tags.
Defendant Tags are added on the "Tags" tab of the Defendant Screen (shown below). For more information about the "Tags" tab, see the article: How do I add Client Tags to a Client?
- The "Tags" tab is marked by a tag icon on the row of icons below the top blue bar. Clicking the icon will display the Defendant Tags block.
- The Defendant Tags block shows the tags that have been applied to the defendant on the left side of the block. On the right side, you will see tags that are available to be added.
Now, let's take a look at some example tags:
Consider adding tags that describe your defendant's legal status. For example, we have added the tags:
- On Parole
- On Probation
- On Pre-Trial Release
- Pre-Trial Services
- Prison Release Re-Offender
- 3 Strikes Law Offender
Let's take a look at some examples of Additional Assistance Tags:
- Employed
- Unemployed
- Retired
- Disabled
- Laid Off
Next, let's look at examples of tags for Residential Status:
- With Victim
- Homeless
- Lives Alone
- Half-Way House/Work Release
These tags are useful to understand if the victim may still be in danger and to ensure the defendant is cooperating with the terms of their release, restraining order, or other conditions. Consider other similar tags that you could add in addition to the recommendations above.
Now, we have some examples of Employment Status:
Next are examples of Gang Affiliation tags:
Finally, we have examples of Zone tags:
If your agency uses zones to organize where defendants are, you can use these tags to track that information. This could also be replaced with info like districts or counties.
- Zone 1
- Zone 2
- Zone 3
- Zone 4