US20160358297A1

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Publication number: US20160358297A1
Application number: US15/243,340
Authority: US
Inventors: Moshe Alon; Uri Gal
Original assignee: Case Global Inc
Current assignee: Case Global Inc
Priority date: 2008-01-24
Filing date: 2016-08-22
Publication date: 2016-12-08
Also published as: US8549028B1; US9424306B2; US20130346440A1

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present invention are related to incident tracking systems and methods. A method allows for receiving input that specifies an incident at a facility, defining a search area adjacent to a position of the incident, and displaying one or more other incidents that occurred at the facility within the search area. A further method allows for dynamically plotting, each time a search area is changed on a map of a facility and an associated date range is indicated, positions on the map within the search area so as to indicate where incidents have occurred at the facility within the date range. Another method allows for receiving input that specifies a name of a person associated with an incident at a facility, and automatically flagging the person as being of interest if the person has been involved in one or more other incidents at the facility.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/356,985, filed Jan. 21, 2009, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional App. Ser. No. 61/023,344, filed Jan. 24, 2008, the entire contents of both of which are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to incident tracking systems and methods and, more particularly, to systems and methods for tracking incidents that have occurred at a facility.

Everyday, millions of people populate facilities such as shopping centers, office buildings, apartment buildings, assembly plants, schools, hospitals, airports, casinos, and the like. Such facilities often include structures and other improvements for functional purposes or aesthetics. In the normal course of life, there are bound to be incidents at such facilities, such as incidents involving people, incidents involving structures, incidents involving items, and the like. Some incidents may lead to injury, loss of property, lawsuits, or other complications that are generally undesirable.

Consider, for example, various incidents that may occur at a common shopping mall. A mall patron might slip-and-fall in the food court and then file a lawsuit claiming some bodily injuries. Hoodlums might be involved in disorderly conduct outside of a movie theater late at night. There may be a theft of allergy pills from a pharmacy located next to a pet store. A radio might be stolen from a vehicle parked in a parking lot near an adjacent field. Various other incidents may involve, for example, broken windows, backed-up toilets, lost children, and the like.

In order to address such incidents, facilities often require managers, maintenance personnel, security officers, and the like, which may be a significant cost for a facility owner. Also, some incidents may lead to a temporary closure of part or all of a facility, which may result in lost profits for a facility owner and general patron discontent. Thus, undesirable incidents are often of great concern to facility owners and managers alike, and the ability to reduce such incidents is widely desired.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Various embodiments of the present invention are related to incident tracking systems and methods. In some embodiments, the incident tracking systems and methods allow for organizing and storing information concerning incidents that have occurred at a facility, and for providing informative output such as maps, reports, statistics, messages, warnings, or the like, based on the stored information. Such informative output may aid in analyzing patterns of repeating incidents and in understanding causes or factors contributing to undesirable incidents. By enabling a greater knowledge of the circumstances and similarities of incidents at a facility, there is the potential to formulate preventive actions to avoid future incidents.

A method in one or more computers in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: (i) receiving input that specifies an incident at a facility, where the incident is associated with a position at or near the facility; (ii) defining a search area adjacent to the position, where the search area is changeable; and (iii) displaying one or more other incidents that are each associated with a corresponding position that is within the search area. In various embodiments, the displaying includes displaying the one or more other incidents on a display screen. In some embodiments, the position is an area in the facility.

A method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: (i) receiving, by a server over a network from a computer, input that specifies an incident at a facility, where the incident is associated with a position at or near the facility; (ii) defining a search area adjacent to the position, where the search area is changeable; and (iii) initiating a search in a database based at least partially on the search area to obtain information about other incidents that are each associated with a corresponding position that is within the search area. In various embodiments, the method further includes displaying the other incidents on a display screen. In some embodiments, the position is an area in the facility.

In various embodiments, the defining includes receiving input that specifies the search area in terms of one of a polygon or a closed convex shape on a map of at least a portion of the facility on a display screen. Also, in various embodiments, the defining includes locating the position on a grid and receiving input that specifies the search area with reference to the grid. In some embodiments, the defining includes displaying the position on a map of at least a portion of the facility on a display screen, and receiving input that specifies the search area by highlighting pixels of the display screen. Also, in some embodiments, the defining includes specifying the search area as an area within a particular radial distance from the position. In various embodiments, the defining includes automatically defining, upon receiving the input that specifies the incident, the search area adjacent to the position based on one or more stored values.

In some embodiments, the initiating includes initiating the search in the database based at least partially on the search area and a date search range. Also, in some embodiments, the method further includes automatically causing icons representing positions of the other incidents to be displayed on a map once the information about the other incidents has been obtained. In various embodiments, the receiving includes receiving input that specifies the incident including information about the position. In some embodiments, the receiving includes receiving input that specifies the incident including information about a main category that applies to the incident, a sub-category within the main category that applies to the incident, and a secondary main category that applies to the incident. In further embodiments, the initiating includes initiating the search in the database based at least partially on the search area and the main category and the secondary main category.

In various embodiments, the receiving includes receiving input that specifies the incident including information about an item involved in the incident. In further embodiments, the method includes displaying information relating to how many times items of a same type as the item have been involved in incidents. Also, in further embodiments, the method includes displaying information relating to how many times items of a same type as the item have been involved in incidents at the facility within a date range. In some embodiments, the receiving includes receiving input that specifies the incident including information about a vehicle involved in the incident, where the information about the vehicle includes at least one of a make, a model, a vehicle identification number, license plate information, or an owner of the vehicle. Also, in some embodiments, the method further includes displaying information relating to how many times vehicles with a same make and model as the vehicle have been involved in incidents.

In various embodiments, the receiving includes receiving input that specifies the incident including information about a person involved in the incident and a role the person played in the incident. In further embodiments, the method includes identifying the person as being a person of interest in a case where the person has played a same role as the role in at least one other incident. In some embodiments, the method includes identifying the person as being a person of interest in a case where the person has played a same role as the role in at least one other incident that occurred at any facility identified with a currently logged-in user. In some embodiments, the receiving includes receiving input that specifies the incident including information about a type of the incident and a business related to the incident, where the business has stores at multiple facilities. Also, in some embodiments, the method further includes displaying information about incidents of a same type as the type that are related to the stores of the business and that occurred within a date range.

In various embodiments, the receiving includes receiving input that specifies the incident including at least one of a photo, a video, a sound, a text file, a spreadsheet file, a multi-media file, a scanned document, a binary file, or any other type of computer file associated with the incident. In some embodiments, the method further includes displaying, for each of the other incidents, a corresponding icon at the corresponding position associated with that incident on a map of at least a portion of the facility. Also, in some embodiments, the facility is at least one of a shopping center, a mall, a school, a stadium, a bank, a hospital, a hotel, a casino, an airport, a campus, a church, an office building, an apartment building, a sea port, a university, a college, a logistic hub, a logistic terminal, a factory, a manufacturing facility, a theatre, a theme park, a military camp, a federal government building, a state government building, a landmark, or the like. In various embodiments, the initiating includes sending from the server to a database server a database query based at least partially on the search area.

A computer readable storage medium in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention stores a computer program that when executed on a computer performs a method, where the method includes: (i) receiving input that specifies an incident at a facility, where the incident is associated with a position at the facility; (ii) determining one or more other incidents that are each associated with a corresponding position that is within a specified search area adjacent to the position; and (iii) providing information about the one or more other incidents.

A method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: (i) causing, by a server, a map of at least a portion of a facility to be displayed on a display screen of a computer; and (ii) dynamically plotting, each time a search area is changed on the map and an associated date range is indicated, positions on the map within the search area where incidents have occurred within the date range.

A method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: (i) receiving, by a server over a network from a computer, input that specifies an incident at a facility including a name of a person associated with the incident at the facility; (ii) automatically identifying, when the input is received, the person as being of interest if the person has been involved in one or more other incidents; and (iii) automatically displaying a warning on a display screen in a case where the person is identified as being of interest. In further embodiments, information related to the person is flagged in a database in a case where the person has played a same role in at least two incidents at the facility.

A method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: (i) receiving, by a server over a network from a computer, input that specifies at least one of an item or a vehicle involved in an incident at a facility; (ii) identifying the at least one of the item or the vehicle as being of interest in a case where the at least one of the item or the vehicle has been involved in one or more other incidents; and (iii) displaying a warning on a display screen in a case where the at least one of the item or the vehicle is identified as being of interest.

A method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: (i) receiving, by a server over a network from a computer, data that specifies an incident at a facility including a main category that applies to the incident; (ii) determining one or more users that are to be notified of the incident based at least partially on the main category of the incident and information about user category subscriptions; and (iii) providing one or more notifications to one or more devices associated with the one or more users that are to be notified of the incident, where at least one of the one or more notifications includes a link that provides access to information stored in a database concerning the incident.

In various embodiments, the at least one of the one or more notifications further includes a summary of the information concerning the incident. Also, in various embodiments, the at least one of the one or more notifications is provided as at least one of a text message or an e-mail. In some embodiments, the providing comprises automatically transmitting the one or more notifications after receiving the data that specifies the incident at the facility and determining the one or more users that are to be notified of the incident. In various embodiments, the method further includes providing a computer generated voice message that recites at least a portion of the information stored in the database concerning the incident to a telephone.

In various embodiments, the method further includes determining whether a response is received from a first contact individual of the one or more users within a time period after a notification has been provided to a device associated with the first contact individual, and providing a separate notification to a device associated with a second contact individual in a case where it is determined that the response was not received from the first contact individual within the time period. Also, in various embodiments the method further includes determining whether the incident is a potential high liability incident based at least partially on the data and a set of liability criteria, and automatically notifying an insurance company of the incident in a case where it is determined that the incident is a potential high liability incident.

In some embodiments, the input further includes a sub-category within the main category that applies to the incident and a secondary main category that applies to the incident. Also, in some embodiments, the determining of the one or more users is based further on the sub-category of the incident and the secondary main category of the incident. In various embodiments, the method further includes receiving subscription requests from users that each identify one or more main categories of incidents for which notifications are requested to be received by a corresponding user, and associating the users with main categories to which the users have subscribed based at least partially on the subscription requests that have been received so as to provide the information about user category subscriptions. In some embodiments, the method further includes determining whether the incident occurred within a given time period, where the providing comprises automatically providing the one or more notifications in a case where it is determined that the incident occurred within the given time period.

A method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: (i) forming, by one or more computers, an extensible markup language (XML) document with tags and content based at least partially on information stored in a database, where the XML document is formed to include at least one start-tag and at least one end-tag that correspond to a field in the database for which data is needed, and where the XML document is further formed to include at least one identifier between the at least one start-tag and the at least one end-tag to indicate that data is needed for the field; (ii) transmitting the XML document to a system that is able to provide appropriate data for the field; (iii) receiving a reply XML document from the system that includes the at least one start-tag, the at least one end-tag, and the appropriate data for the field between the at least one start-tag and the at least one end-tag; and (iv) storing the appropriate data from the reply XML document into the database for the field.

In various embodiments, the method further includes determining whether the reply XML document further includes one or more tags that were not included in the XML document and that correspond to one or more fields in the database. Also, in various embodiments, the method further includes storing, in a case where it is determined that the reply XML document further includes the one or more tags, content associated with the one or more tags from the reply XML document into the database. In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, to the system, information concerning available tags that each correspond to a respective field in the database and that can each be selectively inserted into the reply XML document to demarcate respective data for the respective field.

In various embodiments, the content of the XML document includes information about an incident that occurred at a facility. In some embodiments, the system is one of an insurance system, a risk management system, a security system, a loss prevention system, or a maintenance system. Also, in some embodiments, the appropriate data specifies data related to the incident. In various embodiments, the content of the XML document includes information about an incident that occurred at a facility and the appropriate data includes an insurance claim number for the incident.

Various embodiments of the present invention relate to incident tracking systems including a web server and client computers that communicate with the web server over one or more network connections. In some embodiments, the incident tracking systems further include a firewall for security and one or more database servers for storing database information. Thus, various embodiments of the present invention provide for incident tracking systems, methods, and computer readable storage mediums storing computer programs that allow for tracking incidents at one or more facilities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a computer for use in various embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a system that is able to be programmed for incident tracking in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention that is able to execute programs for incident tracking;

FIG. 4 illustrates a log-in page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an incident page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a new incident addition page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a main category for a new incident;

FIG. 7 illustrates a new incident addition page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a sub-category within a main category for a new incident;

FIG. 8 illustrates a new incident addition page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of an incident date for a new incident;

FIG. 9 illustrates a new incident addition page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a designation of an incident time, a short description, a name of a facility, and a level or zone within the facility associated with a new incident;

FIG. 10 illustrates a new incident addition page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a location code for a new incident;

FIG. 11 illustrates an incident page with a secondary main category pop-up window in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for specifying a secondary main category and secondary sub-category for an incident;

FIG. 12 illustrates a location map page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for specifying a position at a facility that is associated with an incident;

FIG. 13 illustrates another location map page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for specifying a position at a facility that is associated with an incident;

FIG. 14 illustrates a guard tracking report parameters page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for specifying guard tracking report parameters;

FIG. 15 illustrates a guard tracking report in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for providing details of a security guard tour around a facility;

FIG. 16 illustrates an incident details page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for specifying details related to an incident that occurred at a facility;

FIG. 17 illustrates an incident details page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a nearest tenant to a position of an incident at a facility;

FIG. 18 illustrates a search page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for searching for incidents;

FIG. 19 illustrates a reports menu page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for selecting reports to be displayed;

FIG. 20 illustrates an incidents distribution page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 illustrates an incidents distribution page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a date range;

FIG. 22 illustrates an incidents distribution page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of another date range;

FIG. 23 illustrates a location map page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that allows for defining a search area;

FIG. 24 illustrates a location map page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention in which incidents associated with positions within a search area are displayed;

FIG. 25 illustrates a location map page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a changing of a search area;

FIG. 26 illustrates a location map page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that allows for defining a search area and for specifying categories of incidents to be displayed and for specifying a date range of incidents to be displayed;

FIG. 27 illustrates a location map page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that allows for defining a search area;

FIG. 28 illustrates a location map page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a change of a search area;

FIG. 29 illustrates a location map page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 30 illustrates a location map page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that allows for specifying multiple search areas;

FIG. 31 illustrates a business incident report for a business having stores at multiple facilities;

FIG. 32 illustrates an incident category report for a facility in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 33 illustrates an incident count report for a facility in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 34 illustrates a people count/vehicle count report page for a facility in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 35 illustrates a people count report for a facility for a specified year in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 36 illustrates a report by day of week in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 37 illustrates a report by time of day in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 38 illustrates a people involved page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for specifying people involved in an incident;

FIG. 39 illustrates a people involved page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a role a person played in an incident;

FIG. 40 illustrates a people involved page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows an identification of a person as being of interest in a case where the person has been involved in one or more other incidents;

FIG. 41 illustrates a matching people found page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 42 illustrates a people involved page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows fields for entering details about a person involved in an incident at a facility;

FIG. 43 illustrates a people involved page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows fields for entering medical information about a person involved in an incident at a facility;

FIG. 44 illustrates a people involved page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a field for entering a narrative obtained from a person involved in an incident at a facility;

FIG. 45 illustrates an items involved page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for receiving input that specifies information about one or more items involved in an incident;

FIG. 46 illustrates an items involved page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows an identification of an item as being of interest in a case where the item has been involved in one or more other incidents;

FIG. 47 illustrates a vehicles involved page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for receiving input that specifies information about one or more vehicles involved in an incident;

FIG. 48 illustrates a vehicles involved page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a model of a vehicle;

FIG. 49 illustrates a vehicles involved page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a type of a vehicle;

FIG. 50 illustrates a vehicles involved page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of one or more exterior colors of a vehicle;

FIG. 51 illustrates a vehicles involved page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows an identification of a vehicle as being of interest;

FIG. 52 illustrates a parking violation page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for receiving input that specifies information about a parking violation;

FIG. 53 illustrates a violation search page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for searching for parking violations;

FIG. 54 illustrates a violation search page with a repeat vehicle violation offenders window in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for searching for repeat vehicle parking violation offenders;

FIG. 55 illustrates an incident attachments page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for receiving input that specifies file attachments to be associated with an incident;

FIG. 56 illustrates an incident pictures page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for receiving input that specifies pictures to be associated with an incident;

FIG. 57 illustrates a picture enlargement window in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for enlarging a photograph;

FIG. 58 illustrates an incident page with an injured person selection window in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for receiving input that describes an injured person;

FIG. 59 illustrates a police report page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for receiving input that specifies police report information about an incident;

FIG. 60 illustrates a send message page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for sending a message to a user;

FIG. 61 illustrates an e-mail application window in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a reception of a message sent from a send message page;

FIG. 62 illustrates an incident page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows an incident that has been submitted and that has amendments;

FIG. 63 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 64 illustrates an example of a notification of an incident at a facility in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 65 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 66 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 67 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 68 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 69 illustrates an example of an XML document in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 70 illustrates an example of a reply XML document in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of acomputer100 for use in various embodiments of the present invention. Thecomputer100 includes at least one central processing unit (CPU)110 andmemory120. TheCPU110 allows for executing instructions and for processing data. Thememory120 may include, for example, one or more of random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), cache memory, or the like. In some embodiments, thecomputer100 further includes, for example, astorage device130, akeyboard140, apointing device150, adisplay160, anetwork device170, a disc reader/writer180, and a universal serial bus (USB)port190.

Thestorage device130 may allow for storing, for example, one or more of computer programs, database information, data, and the like. In various embodiments, thestorage device130 may include a hard disk drive or the like. Thekeyboard140 allows for inputting character information into thecomputer100. Thepointing device150 may include, for example, a mouse, a track-pad, a touch-pad, a track-ball, a stylus pen, or the like, for moving a cursor or the like based on user motions. Thedisplay160 may include, for example, a monitor with a display screen, a flat-panel display screen, or the like, for displaying images or other information provided by thecomputer100. In further embodiments, thecomputer100 may include a printer (not shown) for printing information provided by thecomputer100.

Thenetwork device170 may include, for example, an Ethernet card, a wireless network card, or the like, for connecting thecomputer100 to a network. In some embodiments, theCPU110 may be configured to communicate data over a network without a separate network device. The disc reader/writer180 may include, for example, a digital versatile disc (DVD) reader/writer, a compact disc (CD) reader/writer, or the like, for reading data from a disc and/or writing data to a disc. TheUSB port190 may be configured to allow for connecting flash memory devices (not shown) or the like to thecomputer100. In various embodiments, a computer readable storage medium for storing one or more computer programs may include one or more of RAM, ROM, a hard disk drive, a DVD, a CD, flash memory, or the like.

FIG. 2 illustrates asystem200 that is able to be programmed for incident tracking in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Thesystem200 includes aweb server210, one ormore client computers220, and one ormore networks230 that allow for communication between theweb server210 and the one ormore client computers220. Theweb server210 is configured to provide web pages and database information to the one ormore client computers220 over the one ormore networks230. In various embodiments, theweb server210 comprises, for example, a computer such as thecomputer100 ofFIG. 1. In various embodiments, theweb server210 is programmed by a computer program stored on a computer-readable storage medium to provide web pages and database information related to incident tracking, and to receive and store data in a database related to incident tracking.

The one ormore client computers220 are clients and allow for sending data and requests to theweb server210 over the one ormore networks230, and allow for receiving web pages and data from theweb server210 over the one ormore networks230. In various embodiments, each of the one ormore client computers220 comprises, for example, a computer such as thecomputer100 ofFIG. 1. The one ormore networks230 may be a single network, or may be separate networks for transmitting data. In some embodiments, the one ormore networks230 include one or more of an Ethernet network, a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), and/or a wide area network (WAN). Also, in some embodiments, the one ormore networks230 include the Internet.

FIG. 3 illustrates asystem300 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention that is able to execute programs for incident tracking. Thesystem300 includes aweb server310, afirewall330, one or more structured query language (SQL) servers, such as the

SQL servers

340A,340B, and one or more client computers, such as the

client computers

321,322,323. Thesystem300 further includes: (i) one ormore networks350 for communicating data between thefirewall330 and the one or

more client computers

321,322,323; (ii) anetwork360 for communicating data between thefirewall330 and theweb server310; and (iii) one or

more networks

370A,370B, for communicating data between thefirewall330 and the one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B. In a case where there are two or

more SQL servers

340A,340B, thesystem300 may further include anetwork380 for communicating data between afirst SQL server340A and asecond SQL server340B.

Theweb server310 may comprise, for example, a computer such as thecomputer100 ofFIG. 1. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is configured to execute a computer program stored on a computer-readable storage medium that causes theweb server310 to accept requests sent from the one or

more client computers

321,322,323 through thefirewall330, and that causes theweb server310 to provide data such as web pages and database information to the one or

more client computers

321,322,323 through thefirewall330. Thefirewall330 may comprise one or more of hardware and software for protecting theweb server310 and the one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B, from unwanted network traffic based on one or more rules specified in thefirewall330. Thus, thefirewall330 may provide security to prevent intruders and unwanted outside traffic from reaching theweb server310 and the one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B. It should be appreciated that theweb server310 is merely an example of a type of server that may be used in various embodiments and that, in various other embodiments, other types of servers may be used in place of theweb server310.

The one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B, may each comprise, for example, a computer such as thecomputer100 ofFIG. 1. The one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B, may each be configured to execute computer programs from computer-readable storage mediums to function as, for example, relational database management systems. In various embodiments, the one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B, store data in one or more relational databases and provide data from the one or more relational databases in response to queries formatted as SQL queries. In some embodiments, the one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B, provide data to theweb server310 through thefirewall330 in response to SQL queries from theweb server310 sent to the one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B, through thefirewall330. It should be appreciated that each of the one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B are merely an example of a type of database server that may be used in various embodiments and that, in various other embodiments, other types of database servers may be used in place of the one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B. For example, it should be appreciated that, in various embodiments, other types of database systems than relational database systems, such as object oriented database systems, hierarchical database systems, or the like, may be used to provide database information in place of the one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B.

The one or

more client computers

321,322,323, are clients and allow for sending data and requests to theweb server310 through thefirewall330, and allow for receiving web pages and data from theweb server310 through thefirewall330. In various embodiments, each of the one or

more client computers

321,322,323, comprises, for example, a computer such as thecomputer100 ofFIG. 1. In some embodiments, each of the one or

more client computers

321,322,323, allows for executing a computer program stored in a computer-readable storage medium to run a web browser application that allows for displaying web pages and accepting user input. In various embodiments, each of the one or

more client computers

321,322,323, is one of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or the like.

In some embodiments, the one ormore networks350, thenetwork360, the one or

more networks

370A,370B, and thenetwork380 include one or more of an Ethernet network, a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), and/or a wide area network (WAN). Also, in some embodiments, the one ormore networks350, thenetwork360, the one or

more networks

370A,370B, and thenetwork380 include the Internet. In various embodiments, theweb server310 serves data over a public network, such as the Internet. In some embodiments, theweb server310 serves data over a private network. Also, in some embodiments, theweb server310 serves data over both a public network and a private network.

An operation of thesystem300 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention will now be described. The operation will be described with respect to theclient computer321, but it should be appreciated that similar operations may be provided by other client computers, such as the

client computers

322 and323. In operation, theclient computer321 may execute a web browser and send a request or data to thefirewall330 over one of the one ormore networks350. Thefirewall330 may be configured to verify that theclient computer321 is a trusted computer and that the request or data is of a permissible type to send to theweb server310. In an event that thefirewall330 determines that requests or data are of an impermissible type, thefirewall330 may block the requests or data from being forwarded to theweb server310. On the other hand, in an event that thefirewall330 determines that the requests or data are of a permissible type, thefirewall330 may forward the requests or data to theweb server310 over thenetwork360.

When theweb server310 receives requests or data from theclient computer321, theweb server310 may access a database in thefirst SQL server340A to obtain data from the database or to store data into the database. In such a case, theweb server310 may be configured to form a SQL query to obtain data from the database, or to form one or more commands to insert or update data in the database at thefirst SQL server340A. Theweb server310 may send the queries or commands tofirst SQL server340A through thefirewall330 and over thenetwork360 and thenetwork370A. Thefirewall330 may be configured to verify that proper access is being made to thefirst SQL server340A before sending the queries or commands over thenetwork370A.

In a case where thefirst SQL server340A receives one or more commands to insert, update, modify, delete, or the like, data or tables in a database, thefirst SQL server340A may be configured to carry out the commands. When there are two or

more SQL servers

340A,340B, the two or

more SQL servers

340A,340B, may be synchronized in real time to allow for redundancy in thesystem300. For example, each time a database is changed in thefirst SQL server340A, the change to the database may be backed-up on thesecond SQL server340B by sending information regarding the change over thenetwork380. In some embodiments, the synchronization between thefirst SQL server340A and thesecond SQL server340B may allow for sending changes to thesecond SQL server340B within seconds of the changes being made in thefirst SQL server340A. Thus, in case of a failure of thefirst SQL server340A, a back-up copy of the database is stored for use in thesecond SQL server340B.

In a case where thefirst SQL server340A receives a SQL query from theweb server310, thefirst SQL server340A may be configured to access the relevant database and to provide data to theweb server310 in response to the SQL query. The data sent from thefirst SQL server340A to theweb server310 passes over thenetwork370A, through thefirewall330, and over thenetwork360. Thefirewall330 may again provide security to verify that the data to be transmitted to theweb server310 is of a permissible type and originated from a trusted source.

Once theweb server310 receives the data in response to the SQL query, theweb server310 may be configured to form a new web page to send to theclient computer321, or to issue a command with data to update an existing web page at theclient computer321. Such information is transmitted from theweb server310 to theclient computer321 by transmitting the information over thenetwork360, through thefirewall330, and over the one ormore networks350. Theclient computer321 may then display on a display screen the new or updated web page. It should be appreciated that theweb server310 is able to service each of the one or

more client computers

321,322,323, in a similar fashion.

Thus, in various embodiments, all communications with theweb server310 must go through thefirewall330, which helps to protect theweb server310 from unauthorized use or malicious attacks. Also, in various embodiments, only theweb server310 is able to access the one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B, and such access is through thefirewall330, which helps to protect the data in the databases at the one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B, from unauthorized access or malicious attacks. Moreover, in various embodiments, all accesses to thefirst SQL server340A must originate from theweb server310, which may lead to an advantage in that if thefirst SQL server340A goes down and is unable to provide service, a change must only be made at theweb server310 to redirect queries, commands, and data to thesecond SQL server340B. In such an instance, theweb server310 would be able to communicate with thesecond SQL server340B over thenetwork360, through thefirewall330, and over thenetwork370B, to keep thesystem300 functional even when thefirst SQL server340A goes down.

Each of the one or

more client computers

321,322,323, may be located at any suitable corresponding location where there is a network connection available for connecting to theweb server310. In various embodiments, some of the one or

more client computers

321,322,323, are located in security offices, management offices, customer stores, or the like. In various embodiments, theweb server310 and the one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B, may each be located at one or more corresponding data centers run by web hosting service companies, such that theweb server310 is a hosted web server and such that the one or

more SQL servers

340A,340B, are hosted SQL servers.

In some embodiments, rather than having a client-server model with the one or

more client computers

321,322,323, and theweb server310, a single stand-alone computer (not shown) may be employed for incident tracking to allow users to work off-line. In such a case, the single stand-alone computer may be configured to directly receive user input, store data into and retrieve data from a local database, and display information to a user. In various other embodiments, other types of network configurations, such as peer-to-peer, or the like, may be employed to allow for transmitting data.

The following description of embodiments of incident tracking systems and methods will be described with reference to the elements ofsystem300, but it should be understood that the other types of configurations noted above could be used instead ofsystem300. Also, the following description of embodiments of incident tracking systems and methods will be described with reference to theclient computer321, but it should be appreciated that similar operations may be provided by other client computers, such as the

client computers

322 and323. In the following description of embodiments of incident tracking systems and methods, various web pages are described as having entries for receiving or displaying information. It should be appreciated that the entries in the web pages are provided as example entries and that, in various other embodiments, more or fewer entries may be provided.

FIG. 4 illustrates a log-inpage400 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 4, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 may execute a browser application computer program stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and may specify a uniform resource locator (URL) in the browser from which the log-inpage400 is to be accessed. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is configured to execute a web server application computer program stored in a computer-readable storage medium to cause theweb server310 to serve the log-inpage400 to theclient computer321. The log-inpage400 is then displayed by the browser of theclient computer321 on a display screen of a display, such as thedisplay160 ofFIG. 1, of theclient computer321.

In various embodiments, theweb server310 includes one or more computer programs written in one or more of Visual Basic, Java, C#, or the like, for generating web pages, formulating database queries and commands, receiving and transmitting data, and the like, where the one or more computer programs may be stored on one or more computer-readable storage mediums to be read by theweb server310. Web pages provided to theclient computer321 from theweb server310 may be transmitted as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) files, or the like, and may include embedded scripts or programs such as JavaScript routines, Java Applets, Adobe Flash files, or the like. The web pages may include text boxes, buttons, menus, drop-down lists, check boxes, radio buttons, or the like, for receiving user input. In various embodiments, some web pages are dynamically generated by theweb server310 based on one or more of user input information, database information returned in response to database queries, or the like.

Theclient computer321 may include a keyboard, such as thekeyboard140 ofFIG. 1, for allowing a user to input text into text boxes, press buttons, make selections from menus and drop-down lists, select check boxes and radio buttons, or the like. Theclient computer321 may also include a pointing device, such as thepointing device150 ofFIG. 1, for allowing a user to press buttons, make selections from menus and drop-down lists, select check boxes and radio buttons, or the like.

The log-inpage400 may be a web page, and includes auser information section410 for receiving input related to user log-in information. In various embodiments, theuser information section410 includes auser name section420, apassword section430, acompany code section440, and a log-inbutton450. Theuser name section420 may include a text box, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a user name. Thepassword section430 may include a text box, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a password. Thecompany code section440 may include a text box, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a company code. The log-inbutton450 may be clicked by a user to start a log-in process in which the user name entered in theuser name section420, the password entered in thepassword section430, and the company code entered in thecompany code section440 are transmitted to theweb server310 for verification.

Theweb server310 may be configured to execute a computer program upon receipt of the user name, password, and company code, to verify that the user name is a valid user name for a company specified by the company code, and to verify that the password is a valid password for the user name associated with the company code. In a case that the password is not a valid password, theweb server310 may send a web page to prompt a user for another password. In a case that the password is a valid password, then theweb server310 may allow access to the user. Thus, theweb server310 provides for password protection against unauthorized use by individuals.

The company code allows for specifying a company with which the user is associated. Many companies may each have an account for tracking incidents at facilities related to the company. In addition, different organizations within a company may be supplied unique company codes for accessing theweb server310. The web pages subsequently provided by theweb server310 after log-in may be customized based on the company code associated with the user, so that the types of incidents, reports, information, and the like, available to users may be customized for each company or organization. Thus, companies and organizations may capture and analyze particular information specially suited for their purposes.

Moreover, different users within each company or organization may have different access privileges to input or access particular information within thesystem300. Theweb server310 may be programmed, for example, to set the access privileges based on the user name specified in the log-inpage400 by referencing a table of privileges for users indexed by user name. Thus, there may be some secure areas and information that are protected or even hidden from users based on their access privileges. For example, in some embodiments, investigation information related to investigations for incidents may be hidden from some users that do not have appropriate access privileges.

Also, once a user has logged-in, theweb server310 may maintain a session timer that begins counting each time a user is idle and has not submitted information to or requested information from theweb server310 after logging-in. In such a case, if the session timer indicates that the user has been idle for more than a specified time period, such as ten minutes, then theweb server310 may automatically terminate the session and log-off the user. The user would then be forced to log-in again before accessing information. Such a session timer may provide for improved security in a case where a user forgets to log-off before leaving theclient computer321, because the session will automatically be terminated after a specified idle time period has elapsed.

FIG. 5 illustrates anincident page500 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 5, in various embodiments, theincident page500 may be a web page that is provided from theweb server310 to theclient computer321 upon a user logging-into theweb server310 from theclient computer321. Theincident page500 includes anew incident button501, anincident details section510, a search forincident section530, anincident information section540, amessages button571, areports button572, and a log-out button573.

The incident detailssection510 includes anincident map button511, adetails button512, a people involvedbutton513, an items involvedbutton514, a vehicles involvedbutton515, an actions takenbutton516, anarrative button517, apolice report button518, apictures button519, anattachments button520, ageneral liability button521, a submitbutton522, and asubmission information section523. The search forincident section530 includes an incident identification (ID)section531, asearch button532, and anadvanced search link533. Theincident information section540 includes anincident ID541, asecurity incident ID542, amain category section543, asub-category section544, a secondarymain category button545, anincident date section546, anincident time section547, adescription section548, alocation information section550, aninjuries section560, and asave button562. Thelocation information section550 includes alocation name section551, a level/zone section552, and alocation code section553.

Theincident page500 may be displayed on a display screen of theclient computers321. Theclient computer321 may include a keyboard, such as thekeyboard140 of thecomputer100 ofFIG. 1, for inputting information into theincident page500. Theclient computer321 may also include a pointing device, such as thepointing device150 of thecomputer100 ofFIG. 1, for controlling acursor590 on the display screen to provide input to theincident page500. In various embodiments, data input in theincident page500 is transmitted to theweb server310 at the request of a user. In various other embodiments, data input in theincident page500 is automatically transmitted to theweb server310 after being input at theclient computer321.

In various embodiments, in a case where thenew incident button501 is pressed using thecursor590 or keyboard input, theclient computer321 transmits a new incident request to theweb server310, and theweb server310 returns a web page to theclient computer321 for adding new incident information. In various embodiments, each incident is assigned a unique incident ID, and the incident ID may, for example, be incremented by one for each new incident. The entry of information for specifying a new incident upon selection of thenew incident button501 is described below with reference toFIGS. 6-10. In various embodiments, an incident may be an occurrence, an event, or the like, and information about the incident may include information about the occurrence or event.

Referring again toFIGS. 3 and 5, the search forincident section530 allows for searching for incidents that have already been previously entered. Theincident ID section531 allows for receiving input that specifies an incident ID in order to search for an incident associated with the incident ID. In various embodiments, theincident ID section531 includes a text box for receiving the incident ID, and theclient computer321 transmits the incident ID specified in theincident ID section531 to theweb server310 when thesearch button532 is pressed through user input. Theweb server310 may be programmed to receive the incident ID that specifies the incident from theclient computer321, and to form a SQL query to send to thefirst SQL server340A to retrieve information related to the incident specified by the incident ID. Thefirst SQL server340A may be programmed to search a database in response to the SQL query based on the incident ID, and to transmit information from the database related to the incident specified by the incident ID to theweb server310. Theweb server310 may be programmed to update theincident information section540 and theincident details section510 of theincident page500 based on the information returned from thefirst SQL server340A, and to transmit the updated information for theincident page500 to theclient computer321.

Theclient computer321 is programmed to display the updated information for theincident page500.FIG. 5 illustrates an example in which a search has been performed for an incident associated withincident ID number 228519, and in which theincident information section540 and theincident details section510 have been updated based on the results of the search. In various embodiments, theadvanced search link533 may be clicked on using thecursor590 or selected using keyboard input to search for incidents based on additional criteria, as is described below with reference toFIG. 18.

With reference again toFIGS. 3 and 5, information provided in various embodiments in theincident information section540 will now be discussed. Theincident ID541 provides the unique incident ID for the currently displayed incident. Thesecurity incident ID542 provides a security ID for the currently displayed incident.

Themain category section543 provides information related to a main category selected for the currently displayed incident. The main category associated with an incident may indicate a type of the incident, such as false alarm, assault, attempted burglary, ban notice, customer service, non-criminal other, vandalism, arrest by security, theft, slip and fall, lost property, water leak, property damage, fire, tenant lease violation, personal accident, burglary from motor vehicle, improper conduct, vehicle accident, or the like. The preceding list of main categories is provided as an example, and it should be understood that numerous other incident types may be specified for the main category. In various embodiments, the incident main categories are specially tailored for various companies, or organizations within a company, for reporting the types of incidents that occur with respect to the companies or organizations. In such embodiments, the list of available main categories provided to a user for an incident may then be based on the company code entered by the user in the log-inpage400 ofFIG. 4. In various other embodiments, the incident main categories are provided as a default list of main categories specified by a system programmer.

Thesub-category section544 provides information related to a sub-category within the selected main category that is selected for the currently displayed incident. Each main category may have an associated one or more sub-categories that further define a type of the incident. For example, for the main category of assault, a list of sub-categories such as with a deadly weapon, with a weapon, and without a weapon, may be available for selection for the sub-category of the incident. Similarly, for example, for the main category of customer service, there may be available sub-category types of change a tire, exchange an item, fix a defect, or the like. The preceding lists of sub-categories are provided as examples, and it should be understood that numerous other types may be specified for sub-categories. In various embodiments, the available incident sub-categories are specially tailored for various companies, or organizations within a company, for reporting the types of incidents that occur with respect to the companies or organizations. In such embodiments, the list of available sub-categories for each main category provided to a user for an incident may then be based on the company code entered by the user in the log-inpage400 ofFIG. 4. In various other embodiments, the incident sub-categories for each main category are provided as a default list of sub-categories specified by a system programmer.

The secondarymain category button545 allows for providing information about a secondary main category and a secondary sub-category within the secondary main category associated with an incident. In various embodiments, the list of available secondary main categories and secondary sub-categories is the same as the list of available main categories and sub-categories, respectively. The secondary main category allows for associating another main category with an incident in addition to the primary main category. The selection of a secondary main category and secondary sub-category for an incident is described below with reference toFIG. 11.

Theincident date section546 provides information about a date associated with the currently displayed incident. In various embodiments, the date specified in theincident date section546 is a date of occurrence of the currently displayed incident. Theincident time section547 provides information about a time associated with the currently displayed incident. In various embodiments, the time specified in theincident time section547 is an approximate time of occurrence of the currently displayed incident. Thedescription section548 provides a short description of the currently displayed incident.

Thelocation name section551 provides a name of a facility associated with the currently displayed incident. In various embodiments, types of facilities include shopping centers, malls, office buildings, apartment buildings, assembly plants, schools, hospitals, airports, casinos, churches, and the like. In some embodiments, each facility is provided a unique name to distinguish the facility from other facilities. In various embodiments, a list of available facilities from which to select a facility to be associated with an incident may be customized for each company or organization. In such embodiments, the list of available facilities for thelocation name section551 may be based on the company code entered by the user in the log-inpage400 ofFIG. 4.

The level/zone section552 provides a level or zone within the facility specified by thelocation name section551 that is associated with the currently displayed incident. For example, a shopping center may be divided into levels or zones, such as a first level of stores, a second level of stores, management offices, parking lots, and the like. Thelocation code section553 provides a more specific location within the level or zone specified by the level/zone section552 that is associated with the currently displayed incident. For example, in a case where thelocation name section551 specifies a name of a shopping center and the level/zone section552 specifies a zone of offices within the shopping center, thelocation code section553 may provide a list of more specific locations within the offices at the shopping center, such as an entrance, a common area, an elevator, or the like.

Theinjuries section560 provides information related to whether or not an injury has been associated with the currently displayed incident. In various embodiments, if an injury is indicated, a pop-up window is displayed to receive more information about the injury, as is described below with reference toFIG. 58. For example, in various embodiments, when an injury is associated with the currently displayed incident, a pop-up window may be displayed to obtain information about a type of person injured, such as a security employee, a client employee, a client contractor, a shopper, a visitor, or the like. In some embodiments, an insurance company may be automatically notified by theweb server310 in a case where there is an injury associated with an incident and the incident is to a type of person that raises liability concerns.

In various embodiments, theincident information section540 of theincident page500 allows for updating or modifying each of the following for a currently displayed incident: (i) the security ID provided for thesecurity incident ID542; (ii) the main category provided in themain category section543; (iii) the sub-category provided in thesub-category section544; (iv) the secondary main category and secondary sub-category specified in a pop-up screen upon clicking the secondarymain category button545; (v) the date provided in theincident date section546; (vi) the time provided in theincident time section547; (vii) the short description provided in thedescription section548; (viii) the name of the facility provided in thelocation name section551; (ix) the level or zone provided in the level/zone section552; (x) the more specific location provided in thelocation code section553; and (xi) the indication of injuries provided in theinjuries section560.

In various embodiments, in a case where information in theincident information section540 has been updated or modified and thesave button562 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends the updated or modified data to theweb server310. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to receive such updated or modified data from theclient computer321 and to formulate one or more commands to send to thefirst SQL server340A to update or modify the corresponding data in the database of thefirst SQL server340A. Also, in various embodiments, thefirst SQL server340A is programmed to update or modify the corresponding data in the database in response to the one or more commands received from theweb server310. Thus, various embodiments of the present invention allow for updating or modifying data related to an incident in a database.

The incident detailssection510 of theincident page500 allows for specifying and viewing information related to a currently displayed incident. In various embodiments, in a case where theincident map button511 is pressed, a pop-up window with a map of the level or zone specified in the level/zone section552 of the facility specified in thelocation name section551 is displayed on a display screen of theclient computer321. Theclient computer321 may then be used to specify a position on the map at which the incident occurred, so as to associate a position at the facility with the incident. An example process of specifying a position on a map of a facility at which an incident occurred is discussed below with reference toFIG. 12.

In various embodiments, in a case where thedetails button512 is pressed, a pop-up window with entries for specifying details related to the currently displayed incident is displayed on a display screen of theclient computer321. Theclient computer321 may then be used to specify details related to the incident, such as whether the incident was captured on video, information about a reporting party, information about security arrival to the scene of the incident, weather conditions during the incident, an inspection of the location where the incident occurred, a nearest tenant to the incident, or the like. An example process of specifying details related to an incident is discussed below with reference toFIGS. 16-17.

In various embodiments, in a case where the people involvedbutton513 is pressed, a pop-up window with entries for specifying people involved in the currently displayed incident is displayed on a display screen of theclient computer321. Theclient computer321 may then be used to specify people involved in the incident, such as a suspect, a victim, a reporting party, a vehicle owner, or the like. In various embodiments, details related to each person involved in the incident may be entered at theclient computer321, such as address information, contact information, personal information, physical information, employment information, manner of dress during the incident, medical information, a personal narrative, or the like. An example process of specifying people involved in an incident is discussed below with reference toFIGS. 38-44.

In various embodiments, in a case where the items involvedbutton514 is pressed, a pop-up window with entries for specifying items involved in the currently displayed incident is displayed on a display screen of theclient computer321. Theclient computer321 may then be used to specify items involved in the incident, such as damaged items, stolen items, or the like. In various embodiments, details related to each item involved in the incident may be entered at theclient computer321, such as an item description, item properties, an item picture, or the like. An example process of specifying items involved in an incident is discussed below with reference toFIGS. 45-46.

In various embodiments, in a case where the vehicles involvedbutton515 is pressed, a pop-up window with entries for specifying vehicles involved in the currently displayed incident is displayed on a display screen of theclient computer321. Theclient computer321 may then be used to specify vehicles involved in the incident. In various embodiments, details related to each vehicle involved in the incident may be entered at theclient computer321, such as make, model, license plate information, vehicle identification number (VIN) information, exterior and interior colors, vehicle owner information, vehicle damage information, or the like. An example process of specifying vehicles involved in an incident is discussed below with reference toFIGS. 47-51.

In various embodiments, in a case where the actions takenbutton516 is pressed, a pop-up window with entries for specifying actions taken with respect to the currently displayed incident is displayed on a display screen of theclient computer321. Theclient computer321 may then be used to specify actions taken with respect to the incident. Also, in various embodiments, in a case where thenarrative button517 is pressed, a pop-up window with a text box for providing a narrative related to the currently displayed incident is displayed on a display screen of theclient computer321. Theclient computer321 may then be used to provide a narrative related to the incident.

In various embodiments, in a case where thepolice report button518 is pressed, a pop-up window with entries for specifying police report information related to the currently displayed incident is displayed on a display screen of theclient computer321. Theclient computer321 may then be used to specify police report information related to the incident, such as a date and time the incident was reported to the police, a date and time the police arrived to the scene of the incident, information identifying an officer to which the incident was reported, or the like. An example process of specifying police report information related to an incident is discussed below with reference toFIG. 59.

In various embodiments, in a case where thepictures button519 is pressed, a pop-up window with entries for providing pictures related to the currently displayed incident is displayed on a display screen of theclient computer321. Theclient computer321 may then be used to provide pictures related to the incident, such as photographs of a location where the incident occurred, photographs of a person or item or vehicle involved in the incident, or the like. In various embodiments, details related to each picture may be entered at theclient computer321, such as a person who took the picture, a date and time the picture was taken, a type of camera used to take the picture, a distance from the camera to the principal object in the picture, lighting for the picture, whether a flash bulb was used when taking the picture, a description of the picture, or the like. An example process of providing pictures related to an incident is discussed below with reference toFIGS. 56-57.

In various embodiments, in a case where theattachments button520 is pressed, a pop-up window with entries for providing attachments related to the currently displayed incident is displayed on a display screen of theclient computer321. Theclient computer321 may then be used to provide attachments related to the incident, such as image file attachments, video file attachments, sound file attachments, or the like. In various embodiments, the attachments may be uploaded from theclient computer321 to theweb server310 from a storage device accessible by theclient computer321. An example process of providing attachments related to an incident is discussed below with reference toFIG. 55.

In various embodiments, in a case where thegeneral liability button521 is pressed, a pop-up window with entries for providing information related to general liability for the currently displayed incident is displayed on a display screen of theclient computer321. Theclient computer321 may then be used to provide information about general liabilities related to the incident. In some embodiments, theclient computer321 provides the input information about general liabilities to theweb server310, and theweb server310 provides the information about general liabilities to an insurance provider responsible for paying insurance claims.

In various embodiments, in a case where the submitbutton522 is pressed, the information provided in theincident information section540 and the information entered through theincident details section510 related to the currently displayed incident is locked to prevent further modification. In some embodiments, only certain users with proper access privileges are able to submit and lock an incident. Also, in some embodiments, even after an incident has been locked, amendments may be added to the record of the incident to note further information related to the incident. In various embodiments, thesubmission information section523 allows for specifying a user that is submitting the information related to the currently displayed incident to be locked, and for specifying a date on which the information related to the incident is submitted to be locked. An example process of submitting information related to an incident to be locked and of providing amendments to the submitted information is discussed below with reference toFIG. 62.

In various embodiments, each time a section is completed by pressing on a button in theincident details section510 and filling out the corresponding information, acheck mark580 is provided next to the button to indicate that the section has been completed. For example, when theincident map button511 is pressed and a location is indicated on the map of the facility and saved, thecheck mark580 appears next to theincident map button511 to indicate that the incident map section has been completed.

Also, in various embodiments, for each of the people involvedbutton513, the items involvedbutton514, the vehicles involvedbutton515, the actions takenbutton516, thepictures button519, and theattachments button520, when information has been entered after pressing the respective button, the image of the respective button may be updated with a number to indicate the number of people involved, the number of items involved, the number of vehicles involved, the number of actions taken, the number of pictures provided, and the number of attachments provided, respectively. For example, if four pictures are added for an incident after pressing thepictures button519, an image of thepictures button519 on theincident page500 may be updated to indicate that four pictures have been added for the incident.

In various embodiments, in a case where themessages button571 is pressed, a pop-up window with entries for sending a message to a user is displayed in a display screen of theclient computer321. Theclient computer321 may then be used to send a message to a user, such as message text, an attachment file, or the like. In various embodiments, various options are provided for each message, such as selecting one or more recipients for the message, sending the message to e-mail accounts, selecting a message priority and subject, or the like. An example process of sending a message is discussed below with reference toFIGS. 60-61.

In various embodiments, in a case where thereports button572 is pressed, a pop-up window with selections for various reports and statistics is displayed in a display screen of theclient computer321. Theclient computer321 may then be used to select one or more of the reports or statistics, such as maps with plotted incident locations, people counters, incident statistics by date and time, location comparison statistics, or the like. Example processes of selecting reports for incidents are discussed below with reference toFIGS. 19-37.

In various embodiments, in a case where the log-out button573 is pressed, a user is logged-out of the system. Theclient computer321 may be programmed to send a log-out instruction to theweb server310 when the log-out button573 is pressed. In various embodiments, theweb server310 may be programmed to record that the user has logged-out and then to send the log-inpage400 ofFIG. 4 to theclient computer321 to allow for another log-in from a same or different user.

FIG. 6 illustrates a newincident addition page600 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a main category for a new incident. Referring toFIGS. 3, 5, and 6, in various embodiments theclient computer321 is programmed to detect when thenew incident button501 has been pressed, and to provide a request to theweb server310 for the newincident addition page600 in a case where theclient computer321 detects that thenew incident button501 has been pressed. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to provide the newincident addition page600 to theclient computer321 in response to the request for the newincident addition page600 received from theclient computer321.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to receive input that specifies a new incident at a facility through entries in the newincident addition page600. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to receive input that specifies the new incident at the facility from theclient computer321 by receiving the input from theclient computer321 once theclient computer321 receives the input in the newincident addition page600 and asave button610 is pressed. In some embodiments, theweb server310 may be programmed to send new incident information received from theclient computer321 to thefirst SQL server340A to be stored in a database in thefirst SQL server340A in association with an incident ID assigned to the new incident.

As illustrated inFIG. 6, the newincident addition page600 may include themain category section543 for selecting a main category for the new incident. In various embodiments, themain category section543 includes a drop-down list, or the like, with available categories to select for the main category of a new incident. In some embodiments, the available categories may be customized for various companies and organizations, and the available categories may be based on a company code entered in thecompany code section440 of the log-inpage400 ofFIG. 4. In such embodiments, theweb server310 may be programmed to issue a query to thefirst SQL server340A to retrieve a list of categories for a given company code, and then to form the newincident addition page600 using the retrieved list of categories.

In the example embodiment ofFIG. 6, themain category section543 is illustrated as a drop-down list with the ability to scroll up and down within the list, where the currently visible categories in the list are: assault, attempted burglary, attempted motor vehicle theft, attempted robbery, attempted suicide, attempted theft, ban notice, and battery. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to accept user input through a keyboard, a mouse, a touch-pad, or the like, to specify a main category associated with the new incident from the drop-down list. For example, in a case where the incident involved an assault, the category of assault may be selected from the drop-down list for the main category.

FIG. 7 illustrates a newincident addition page700 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a sub-category within a main category for a new incident. The newincident addition page700 is similar to the newincident addition page600 ofFIG. 6. The newincident addition page700 includes themain category section543 and thesub-category section544. In various embodiments, in a case where the main category for the new incident has been selected, the available sub-categories provided in thesub-category section544 are based on the main category specified in themain category section543. In some embodiments, thesub-category section544 includes a drop-down list with the available sub-categories. For instance, in the example illustrated inFIG. 7, the main category of assault has been selected in themain category section543, and a drop-down list is provided for thesub-category section544 with available sub-categories for the main category of assault. In the example, the available sub-categories for assault are with a deadly weapon, with a weapon, and without a weapon. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 ofFIG. 3 receives input from a keyboard, a mouse, a touch-pad, or the like, that specifies the sub-category from the drop-down list, or the like, in the newincident addition page700.

FIG. 8 illustrates a newincident addition page800 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of an incident date for a new incident. The newincident addition page800 is similar to the newincident addition page600 ofFIG. 6. The newincident addition page800 includes theincident date section546. In various embodiments, when a drop-down arrow of theincident date section546 is selected using a keyboard, a mouse, a touch-pad, or the like, acalendar window810 is displayed that allows for selection of a date from a calendar to be associated with the new incident. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 8, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 receives input that specifies a date from the calendar in thecalendar window810. In various other embodiments, theclient computer321 receives input that specifies a date that is typed in by a user. In some embodiments, the date indicated in theincident date section546 represents a date on which the incident occurred. Also, in some embodiments, the date is specified in terms of a month, a day of the month, and a year.

FIG. 9 illustrates a newincident addition page900 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a designation of an incident time, a short description, a name of a facility, and a level or zone within the facility associated with a new incident. The newincident addition page900 is similar to the newincident addition page600 ofFIG. 6. The newincident addition page900 includes theincident time section547, thedescription section548, thelocation name section551, and the level/zone section552. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 9, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to receive input that specifies a time in theincident time section547, such as by receiving keyboard input that specifies the time, or by receiving clicks on arrows that allow for scrolling an input time up or down. In some embodiments, the time indicated in theincident time section547 represents an approximate time at which the incident occurred. Also, in some embodiments, the time is specified in terms of hours, minutes, and seconds in a reference time zone.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to receive input that specifies a short description of the new incident in thedescription section548. Thedescription section548 may include, for example, a text box in which a short description of the new incident may be typed. In some embodiments, a default short description is provided in thedescription section548 that describes the category and sub-category of the new incident specified in the main category section543 (refer toFIG. 7) and the sub-category section544 (refer toFIG. 7), respectively.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to receive input that specifies a facility at which the new incident occurred in thelocation name section551. Examples of types of facilities include shopping centers, malls, office buildings, apartment buildings, assembly plants, schools, hospitals, airports, casinos, churches, and the like. Each facility at which incidents are tracked may be provided with a name. For example, a mall in New York may be named the New York Center. In various embodiments, thelocation name section551 includes a drop-down list with names of facilities. In some embodiments, the names of facilities provided in the drop-down list in thelocation name section551 may be different for different companies and organization and may depend on the company code entered in thecompany code section440 of the log-in page400 (refer toFIG. 4). For example, a company may have stores at various malls, and the drop-down list in thelocation name section551 for users associated with the company may have names of the malls at which the company stores are located. Thus, in various embodiments, thelocation name section551 allows for associating the new incident with a facility.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to receive input that specifies a level or zone within the facility at which the new incident occurred in the level/zone section552. For example, if a facility associated with the new incident is a mall, the level/zone section552 may allow for specifying a first level of the mall, a second level of the mall, an offices zone, a parking lot zone, a retail store zone, or the like, at which the incident occurred. In various embodiments, the level/zone section552 includes a drop-down lists with names of levels and/or zones. In some embodiments, the levels and/or zones provided in the drop-down list of the level/zone section552 are based on the facility specified in thelocation name section551.

In various embodiments, the incident time entered in theincident time section547, the short description entered in thedescription section548, the facility name specified in thelocation name section551, and the level or zone specified in the level/zone section552 are provided from theclient computer321 to theweb server310. Theweb server310 may be programmed to receive the incident time, short description, facility name, and level or zone from theclient computer321, and to generate one or more commands to store that information in thefirst SQL server340A in a database in association with the incident ID for the new incident.

FIG. 10 illustrates a newincident addition page1000 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a location code for a new incident. The newincident addition page1000 is similar to the newincident addition page600 ofFIG. 6. The newincident addition page1000 includes thelocation code section553. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 10, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to receive input that specifies a location code for the new incident from a drop-down list of available location codes in thelocation code section553. In some embodiments, the list of available location codes in thelocation code section553 may specify particular areas in the level or zone of the facility specified in the level/zone section552 (refer toFIG. 9) and the location name section551 (refer toFIG. 9), respectively. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 10, thelocation code section553 may specify available location codes, such as common area, crosswalk, dock, elevator, entrance, escalator, food court, garbage/trash area, or the like. In various embodiments, the location code specified in thelocation code section553 is provided from theclient computer321 to theweb server310. Theweb server310 may be programmed to receive the location code and to generate one or more commands to store the location code in thefirst SQL server340A in a database in association with the incident ID for the new incident.

FIG. 11 illustrates anincident page1100 with a secondary main category pop-upwindow1110 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for specifying a secondary main category and secondary sub-category for an incident. Theincident page1100 is similar to theincident page500 ofFIG. 5 and includes theincident information section540 with themain category section543, thesub-category section544, and the secondarymain category button545. In the example illustrated inFIG. 11, the main category for the currently displayed incident is provided as vandalism, and the sub-category for the currently displayed incident is provided as with minor damage. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 11, in various embodiments, when the secondarymain category button545 is selected using a keyboard, a mouse, a touch-pad, or the like, of theclient computer321, theclient computer321 displays the secondary main category pop-upwindow1110 to allow for selection of a secondary main category and a secondary sub-category for the currently displayed incident.

In various embodiments, the secondary main category pop-upwindow1110 includes themain category section543 and thesub-category section544 that reproduce the main category and sub-category from themain category section543 and thesub-category section544 of theincident page1100. Also, in various embodiments, the secondary main category pop-upwindow1110 includes a secondarymain category section1111 and asecondary sub-category section1112. In various embodiments, the secondarymain category section1111 includes a drop-down list, or the like, with available categories to select for the secondary main category of the currently displayed incident. In some embodiments, the list of available categories for the secondary main category may be a same list as a list of available categories provided in themain category section543 for the main category. In some embodiments, the available categories may be customized for various companies and organizations, and the available categories may be based on a company code entered in thecompany code section440 of the log-inpage400 ofFIG. 4. In such embodiments, theweb server310 may be programmed to issue a query to thefirst SQL server340A to retrieve a list of categories for a given company code, and then to form the secondary main category pop-upwindow1110 using the retrieved list of categories.

In various embodiments, in a case where the secondary main category for the currently displayed incident has been selected, the available secondary sub-categories provided in thesecondary sub-category section1112 are based on the secondary main category specified in the secondarymain category section1111. In some embodiments, thesecondary sub-category section1112 includes a drop-down list with the available secondary sub-categories. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 receives input from a keyboard, a mouse, a touch-pad, or the like, that specifies the secondary sub-category from the drop-down list, or the like, in the secondary main category pop-upwindow1110. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to provide the secondary main category specified in the secondarymain category section1111 and the secondary sub-category specified in thesecondary sub-category section1112 to theweb server310. Theweb server310 may be programmed to receive the secondary main category and the secondary sub-category and to generate one or more commands to store that information in thefirst SQL server340A in a database in association with the incident ID for the currently displayed incident.

Thus, various embodiments of the present invention allow for specifying a main category for an incident, a sub-category within the main category for the incident, a secondary main category for the incident, and a secondary sub-category within the secondary main category for the incident. For instance, in the example illustrated inFIG. 11, a main category of vandalism and a sub-category of with minor damage have been selected for an incident, while a secondary main category of arrest by security and a secondary sub-category of trespass have been selected for the incident. With a secondary main category, more than one category is able to be associated with an incident, which may aid in tracking statistics for incident types. In further embodiments, more than two main categories and more than two sub-categories may be associated with each incident.

FIG. 12 illustrates alocation map page1200 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for specifying a position at or near a facility that is associated with an incident. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and 12, in various embodiments theclient computer321 is programmed to display thelocation map page1200 in a case where theincident map button511 is pressed on theincident page500. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to generate thelocation map page1200 based on one or both of the location name specified in thelocation name section551 and the level or zone specified in the level/zone section552 for a currently displayed incident in theincident page500. In such embodiments, theweb server310 may then provide the information for thelocation map page1200 to theclient computer321 to be displayed by theclient computer321. In some embodiments, thelocation map page1200 includes amap1210 of at least a portion of a facility specified by thelocation name section551 of theincident page500 for an incident.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to receive input that specifies a position associated with the incident at or near the facility. In some embodiments, the position is specified by positioning a cursor over themap1210 on a display screen of theclient computer321 using, for example, a mouse, a touch-pad, or the like, and then receiving a mouse click, or the like, to place anicon1220 at specifiedcoordinates1230 represented by the location of the cursor over themap1210. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 may be programmed to send thecoordinates1230 of theicon1220 with respect to themap1210 to theweb server310, and theweb server310 may be programmed to issue one or more commands to cause thefirst SQL server340A to save the coordinates in a database in association with other information for the incident. In some embodiments, theicon1220 may be placed on themap1210 at an approximate position of occurrence of the incident at the facility represented by themap1210. Thus, various embodiments allow for receiving input that specifies information about a position at or near a facility at which an incident has occurred.

The example provided inFIG. 12 is an example where a location name of Case Global has been provided in thelocation name section551 ofFIG. 5 and a zone of Offices has been provided in the level/zone section552 ofFIG. 5, such that when theincident map button511 ofFIG. 5 is pressed, themap1210 in thelocation map page1200 displayed by theclient computer321 is a map of the offices of the Case Global facility. In the example ofFIG. 12, theicon1220 is then placed using a cursor at thecoordinates1230 of (x=363, y=230) with respect to themap1210, which associates the incident with a position in an open office area of the offices of the Case Global facility. Also, in the example, the coordinates may then be transmitted from theclient computer321 to theweb server310, and theweb server310 may then cause the coordinates to be stored by thefirst SQL server340A in association with information related to the incident.

FIG. 13 illustrates anotherlocation map page1300 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for specifying a position at a facility that is associated with an incident. The examplelocation map page1300 illustrated inFIG. 13 includes amap1310 of a parking level B of a New York facility. In the example, a position of an incident at the parking level B of the New York facility is indicated by theicon1320 on themap1310. In various embodiments, thelocation map page1300 further includes a guardtour check box1330, or the like, for indicating whether or not to show guard tour locations on themap1310. The guard tour locations represent locations that a security guard may visit during a tour of the facility. In the example ofFIG. 13, the guardtour check box1330 is checked and, thus, the guard tour locations are indicated by icons, such asicons1332, on themap1310. In a case where the guardtour check box1330 is unchecked, the icons of the guard tour locations, such as theicons1332, would be removed from themap1310. In some embodiments, thelocation map page1300 further includes areport button1340, or the like, that when pressed causes a guard tracking report related to the facility represented by themap1310 to be displayed. Example guard tracking reports for security guard tours of a facility are discussed below with reference toFIGS. 14 and 15.

In various embodiments, information from security guard tours may be stored by a guard tracking system (not shown), such as the TourTrax system provided by Digital Security Concepts Inc. that records activities of security guards as they go on patrols around facilities. Some guard tracking systems (not shown) include buttons, barcodes, or the like, that can be placed at various checkpoint locations around a facility, and allow for a security guard to carry a wand or other similar device that records data for later download or wirelessly reports information upon interaction with the buttons, barcodes, or the like. For example, information such as a time a security guard was at the location of a button, an order in which buttons at a facility were visited by the security guard, or the like, may be stored for later retrieval.

FIG. 14 illustrates a guard trackingreport parameters page1400 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for specifying guard tracking report parameters. In various embodiments, guard tracking reports provide reports of tours of security guards around facilities, where each security guard carries a corresponding wand, as illustrated by awand1410, and each security guard uses the wand to touch or pass over buttons, as illustrated by abutton1420, that are located in various locations around a facility. In various embodiments, each time a security guard touches a wand to a button at a facility, the button sends a signal to a guard tracking system (not shown) that records a time the button was touched and the security guard associated with the wand, if known.

With reference toFIGS. 3, 13, and 14, in various embodiments, theweb server310 interfaces with the guard tracking system (not shown) to obtain guard tracking reports for security guard tours. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to send a request to theweb server310 for guard tracking reports when thereport button1340 of thelocation map page1300 is pressed. In some embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to provide the guard trackingreport parameters page1400 to theclient computer321 upon receiving the request for guard tracking reports from theclient computer321. Also, in some embodiments, the guard trackingreport parameters page1400 is generated to show security guard tours that occurred on a date and time that are near an incident date and incident time associated with an incident whose position is mapped in thelocation map page1300. For example, the guard trackingreport parameters page1400 may provide a list oftours1430 with associated tour dates and times that occurred within a particular number of hours before the incident time and within a specific number of hours after the incident time. In various embodiments, the list oftours1430 includes, for each tour in the list, a tour name, a tour date, a guard name of a security guard associated with the tour, a start button indicating a button at the facility where the tour started, and a number indicating a total number of buttons touched on the tour. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 may be programmed to allow for selection of any tour from the list oftours1430 to provide a full report of the tour.

FIG. 15 illustrates aguard tracking report1500 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for providing details of a security guard tour around a facility. With reference toFIGS. 3, 14, and 15, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to send a request to theweb server310 for a guard tracking report in a case where a tour is selected by a user from the list oftours1430 of the guard trackingreport parameters page1400. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to send the requested guard tracking report, such as theguard tracking report1500, to theclient computer321 in response to the request from theclient computer321.

In some embodiments, theguard tracking report1500 includes information about a tour date and time, a tour name, a guard name of a guard associated with the tour, a tour ID that is a unique identifier of the tour, and a list of tour details. The list of tour details may include, for example, a touch time indicating a time that each button is touched by the guard on the tour, a description of the button touched such as a location or store near the button, a button ID that is a unique identifier of the button, and a status indicating whether the guard found everything to be “ok” at that time or whether the guard provided additional information. In various embodiments, by reviewing a guard tracking report for a facility, such as theguard tracking report1500, it can be determined where a security guard was approximately located when an incident occurred at the facility.

FIG. 16 illustrates an incident detailspage1600 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for specifying details related to an incident that occurred at a facility. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and 16, in various embodiments theweb server310 is programmed to provide the incident detailspage1600 to theclient computer321 in a case where theclient computer321 receives input from thedetails button512 of theincident page500 being pressed, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display the incident detailspage1600. Theclient computer321 may be programmed to receive input specifying details of an incident in the incident detailspage1600 and to send the input to theweb server310. Theweb server310 may be programmed to generate one or more commands to cause thefirst SQL server340A to save the input in a database in association with information related to the incident. In various embodiments, the incident detailspage1600 includes anincident identification section1610, an incident capturedsection1620, a reportingparty section1630, asecurity arrival section1640, aweather conditions section1650, aninspection section1660, anearest tenant section1670, asave button1681, and a save andclose button1682.

In various embodiments, theincident identification section1610 includes an incident ID section for indicating the incident ID of the currently displayed incident, a security ID section, an investigation ID section, a customer incident ID section, and an insurance ID section. The security ID section may include a text box, or the like, for inputting an identifier provided by security personnel for the incident. The investigation ID section may include a text box, or the like, for inputting an identifier specifying an investigation number of an investigation related to the incident. The customer incident ID section may include a text box, or the like, for inputting an identifier supplied by a customer for the incident. The insurance ID section may include a text box, or the like, for inputting an identifier supplied by an insurance company for the incident. Thus, in some embodiments, the currently displayed incident may be associated with more than one identifier.

In various embodiments, the incident capturedsection1620 includes check boxes, or the like, for indicating whether or not the currently displayed incident was captured on closed-circuit television (CCTV). In various embodiments, there may be cameras located at various positions at a facility, and the cameras may capture video of an incident as it is occurring. In a case where the currently displayed incident has been captured on video, a check mark may be placed in a “yes” box of the incident capturedsection1620. In some embodiments, the incident capturedsection1620 further includes a text box, or the like, for receiving information indicating where the video of the incident is stored.

In various embodiments, the reportingparty section1630 includes a reported bysection1631, areporting date section1632, and areporting time section1633. The reported bysection1631 may include a text box, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a person who reported the incident. Thereporting date section1632 may include a text box, a drop-down calendar, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a date on which the incident was reported. Thereporting time section1633 may include a text box, a scrollable time field, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a time at which the incident was reported.

In various embodiments, thesecurity arrival section1640 includes a securitypersonnel name section1641, a securityarrival date section1642, and a securityarrival time section1643. The securitypersonnel name section1641 may include a text box, or the like, for receiving input that specifies names of security personnel that arrived at the scene of the incident. The securityarrival date section1642 may include a text box, a drop-down calendar, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a date on which the security personnel arrived at the scene of the incident. The securityarrival time section1643 may include a text box, a scrollable time field, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a time at which the security personnel arrived to the scene of the incident.

In various embodiments, theweather conditions section1650 includes afirst condition section1651, asecond condition section1652, another conditions sections1653, and atemperature section1654. Thefirst condition section1651 and thesecond condition section1652 may include a drop-down list, or the like, for specifying weather conditions at the time of the incident. For example, weather conditions may include dark, light, cloudy, rainy, light winds, heavy winds, snowing, or the like. Theother conditions section1653 may include a text box, or the like, for specifying other weather conditions present during the incident. Thetemperature section1654 may include a text box, or the like, for specifying a temperature that existed at a time of occurrence of the incident.

In various embodiments, theinspection section1660 includes input fields for providing results of an inspection of a location where the incident occurred. In some embodiments, theinspection section1660 includes fields for specifying an inspection date and time at which the incident location was inspected. Also, in some embodiments, theinspection section1660 includes fields for specifying a name of a person who inspected the location where the incident occurred, a condition of lighting at the location at a time of occurrence of the incident, a surface type of a walking surface at the location, an indication of cleanliness at the location, an indication of whether the location was wet or dry, an indication of whether there was ice or snow at the location, an indication of whether there were obstacles at the location, an indication of whether there were substances on a floor at the location, and a description of the substances in a case where there were substances on the floor.

In various embodiments, thenearest tenant section1670 includes a drop-down list, or the like, for specifying a nearest tenant at the facility to a position where the incident occurred. In various embodiments, theweb server310 provides the incident detailspage1600 such that the drop-down list for thenearest tenant section1670 is based on the facility specified in thelocation name section551 of theincident page500 when thedetails button512 of theincident page500 is pressed. The selection of a nearest tenant to a position of an incident is further discussed below with reference toFIG. 17.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed such that theclient computer321 sends information concerning incident details for an incident entered in the incident detailspage1600 to theweb server310 when thesave button1681 or the save andclose button1682 of the incident detailspage1600 is pressed. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 may be further configured to close the incident detailspage1600 when the save andclose button1682 is pressed. In various embodiments, theweb server310 may be programmed to receive the incident details for the incident from theclient computer321 and to generate one or more commands to cause thefirst SQL server340A to save the incident details in a database in association with other information related to the incident.

FIG. 17 illustrates an incident detailspage1700 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a nearest tenant to a position of an incident at a facility. The incident detailspage1700 is similar to the incident detailspage1600 ofFIG. 16, and the incident detailspage1700 includes thenearest tenant section1670. As illustrated inFIG. 17, thenearest tenant section1670 may include a drop-down list with a list of names of tenants at a facility where the currently displayed incident occurred. A selection of a nearest tenant to a position of the incident may then be made from the list of tenants in the drop-down list of thenearest tenant section1670. In various embodiments, the tenants are tenants of the facility, such as businesses with stores at the facility, renters with spaces at the facility, or the like. With reference toFIGS. 3, 12, and 17, in various embodiments, the nearest tenant may be automatically determined by theclient computer321, theweb server310, or thefirst SQL server340A based on the position of the incident specified in thelocation map page1200 and based on the locations of tenants at the facility.

FIG. 18 illustrates asearch page1800 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for searching for incidents. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and 18, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to send thesearch page1800 to theclient computer321 in a case where theadvanced search link533 of the search forincident section530 of theincident page500 is clicked by a user. In various embodiments, thesearch page1800 includes a search byincident ID section1810, a search byincident date section1820, a search byincident location section1830, a search byincident category section1840, a find person involvedbutton1850, anarrative search section1860, an only withinjuries section1870, asearch button1880, a search resultslist section1881, and aprint section1890.

In various embodiments, the search byincident ID section1810 includes one or more text boxes, or the like, for entering identification numbers for searching for incidents. For example, the search byincident ID section1810 may include an incident ID section for entering an incident ID, and may include a security ID section for entering a security ID. In various other embodiments, further fields may be added for searching based on other identifiers, such as an investigation ID, a customer incident ID, an insurance ID, or the like. In various embodiments, in a case where one or more identification numbers are entered in the search byincident ID section1810 and a search is performed, the search results provides incidents associated with the identification numbers.

In various embodiments, the search byincident date section1820 includes one or more fields for specifying a date search range. For example, the search byincident date section1820 may include a “from date” field and a “to date” for specifying a date search range. In some embodiments, the search byincident date section1820 further includes one or more buttons with customized date search ranges, such as today, last 7 days, last 30 days, last 90 days, or the like. In various embodiments, in a case where a date search range is specified in the search byincident date section1820 and a search is performed, the search results provides incidents that occurred within the date search range.

In various embodiments, the search byincident location section1830 includes a field for specifying a name of a facility and a field for specifying a level or zone within the facility. For example, the search byincident location section1830 may include a drop-down list for specifying a name of a facility and a drop-down list for specifying a level or zone within the facility. In various embodiments, in a case where a name of a facility is specified in the search byincident location section1830 and a search is performed, the search results provides incidents that occurred at the facility. Also, in various embodiments, in a case where a name of a facility and a level or zone are specified in the search byincident location section1830 and a search is performed, the search results provides incidents that occurred at the facility and within the level or zone.

In various embodiments, the search byincident category section1840 includes fields for specifying a main category and a sub-category within the main category. For example, the search byincident category section1840 may include a drop-down list for selecting a main category and a drop-down list for selecting a sub-category within the main category. In various embodiments, in a case where a particular main category is specified in the search byincident category section1840 and a search is performed, the search results provides incidents associated with main categories that match the particular main category and also provides incidents associated with secondary main categories that match the particular main category. Also, in various embodiments, in a case where a particular main category and a particular sub-category are specified in the search byincident category section1840 and a search is performed, the search results provides incidents associated with main categories and sub-categories that match the particular main category and particular sub-category and also provides incidents associated with secondary main categories and secondary sub-categories that match the particular main category and particular sub-category.

In various embodiments, in a case where the find person involvedbutton1850 is pressed, a pop-up window is displayed that allows for searching for people involved in incidents. In various embodiments, thenarrative search section1860 includes a text box, or the like, for receiving search words to be searched for in narratives related to incidents. In some embodiments, the only withinjuries section1870 includes a check box, or the like, for indicating whether or not the search results should only include incidents in which there were injuries.

It should be appreciated that, in various embodiments, one or more sections of thesearch page1800 may be filled-out for a search. For example, a search may be performed for a location and within a specified date range. Also, for example, a search may be performed for incidents associated with a particular category that occurred at a particular facility and that resulted in injuries. Thus, in some embodiments, various combinations of fields in thesearch page1800 may be filled-out for a single search.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed such that theclient computer321 sends search information entered in the fields of thesearch page1800 to theweb server310 in a case where thesearch button1880 is pressed. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed such that theweb server310 generates one or more SQL queries to send to thefirst SQL server340A based on the search information received from theclient computer321. In various embodiments, thefirst SQL server340A is programmed to search a database based on the one or more SQL queries received from theweb server310 and to provide search results to theweb server310 in response to the one or more SQL queries. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to send the search results to theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display a list of the search results in the searchresults list section1881 of thesearch page1800.

In various embodiments, the searchresults list section1881 provides, for each incident search result, the incident ID of the incident, the incident date of the incident, the main category of the incident, the sub-category of the incident, the location name of the facility associated with the incident, the level or zone at the facility associated with the incident, an indication of a number of pictures associated with the incident, an indication of whether the incident has been finally submitted in the system, a link to a map showing a position of the incident at the facility, and a link to a report of the incident. In other embodiments, more or fewer fields may be shown in the searchresults list section1881. In various embodiments, theprint section1890 provides one or more buttons that allow for printing information related to the search results. For example, theprint section1890 may include a results button that causes the search results to be printed by a printer in a case where the results button is pressed.

FIG. 19 illustrates areports menu page1900 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for selecting reports to be displayed. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and 19, in various embodiments theweb server310 is programmed to send thereports menu page1900 to theclient computer321 in a case where thereports button572 of theincident page500 is pressed at theclient computer321. In various embodiments, thereports menu page1900 includes alocation reports section1910, anincident statistics section1920, a reports byregion section1930, and acustomer reports section1940.

In various embodiments, thelocation reports section1910 allows for obtaining reports concerning incidents at a facility. In some embodiments, thelocation reports section1910 includes one or more fields for specifying a location name of a facility and a level or zone within the facility. Also, in some embodiments, thelocation reports section1910 includes ananalysis section1912 with one or more buttons for selecting reports regarding, for example, a particular number of top categories of incidents at the facility, select categories of incidents at the facility, incidents with police involvement at the facility, or the like. In various embodiments, thelocation reports section1910 further includes: (i) an officers list button for providing a report concerning officers at the facility; (ii) a details button for providing details about incidents at the facility; (iii) a tenants list for providing a list of tenants at the facility; (iv) a CCTV button for providing a list of CCTV video links; (v) a people counters button for providing a count of people visiting the facility; (vi) an officer injuries button for providing a report about officer injuries at the facility; and (vii) an incidents per category button for providing a report about a number of incidents at the facility per category.

In various embodiments, theincident statistics section1920 allows for obtaining statistics concerning incidents at one or more facilities. In some embodiments, theincident statistics section1920 includes: (i) a day of the week button for providing statistics on incidents by day of week; (ii) a time of day button for providing statistics on incidents by time of day; (iii) a top “n” incidents button for providing statistics on a top “n” categories associated with the most incidents, where “n” is an integer; (iv) a trend button for providing information on incident trends; (v) an incidents per category button for providing statistics on a number of incidents associated with each category; and (vi) a compare locations button for comparing incident statistics between different facilities.

In various embodiments, the reports byregion section1930 includes: (i) a regional report button for providing a report on all facilities within a given region; and (ii) a login history button for providing a history of user log-in information. In various embodiments, thecustomer reports section1940 includes: (i) an executive report button for providing a customized executive report for a customer; and (ii) a six months report button for providing a report on incidents related to a particular customer that occurred within the last six months.

FIG. 20 illustrates anincidents distribution page2000 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. With reference toFIGS. 3, 19, and 20, in various embodiments theclient computer321 is programmed to request an incidents distribution page, such as theincidents distribution page2000, from theweb server310 in a case where the top five categories button of theanalysis section1912 of thereports menu page1900 is pressed. Also, in various embodiments, in a case where the top five categories button of theanalysis section1912 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends to theweb server310 the location name of the facility and the level or zone specified in thelocation reports section1910 of thereports menu page1900. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to receive the request for the top five categories associated with the level or zone of the specified facility, and to generate one or more SQL queries to send to thefirst SQL server340A to obtain information on incidents in the five categories associated with the most incidents at the level or zone of the facility. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to generate an incidents distribution page, such as theincidents distribution page2000, based on the information returned from thefirst SQL server340A in response to the one or more SQL queries, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display theincidents distribution page2000 received from theweb server310 on a display screen of a display of theclient computer321.

In various embodiments, theincidents distribution page2000 includes amap2012 of a level or zone of a facility, a level/zone menu2010 for changing themap2012 to a different level or zone of the facility,

category legends

2021,2022,2023,2024,2025, for controlling categories of incidents to be displayed on themap2012, adate range section2030 for specifying a date range for incident dates of incidents to be displayed on themap2012, and pre-set

date range sections

2041,2042,2043, with pre-set date ranges for incident dates of incidents to be displayed on themap2012.

In various embodiments, themap2012 is initially shown as a map of a level or zone of a facility specified in thelocation reports section1910 of thereports menu page1900. In the example illustrated inFIG. 20, themap2012 defaults to showing a first level of a New York shopping center. Also, in various embodiments, the

category legends

2021,2022,2023,2024,2025, default to showing the top five categories in terms of number of incidents associated with the category for the displayed level or zone of the facility. In some embodiments, when calculating the number of incidents associated with a category, both the main category of an incident and the secondary main category of the incident are used in calculating the totals. In the example illustrated inFIG. 20, the category legends are as follows: (i) a slip andfall category legend2021; (ii) an alarm-false category legend2022; (iii) atheft category legend2023; (iv) a personal accident-injury not slip andfall category legend2024; and (v) a tenant leaseviolation category legend2025.

In various embodiments, thedate range section2030 includes one or more fields for specifying a date range. For example, thedate range section2030 may include a “from date” drop-down calendar for specifying a starting date for a date range and may include a “to date” drop-down calendar for specifying an ending date for the date range. Also, in various embodiments, thedate range section2030 may include one or more check boxes, or the like, for specifying common date ranges, such as “last 90 days”, “last 180 days”, “last 12 months”, “year to date”, or the like. In some embodiments, theincidents distribution page2000 further includes the pre-set

date range sections

2041,2042,2043, for specifying pre-set date ranges, such as for each three-month interval within the most recent three years. In various embodiments, in a case where a pre-set date range from one of the pre-set

date range sections

2041,2042,2043, is selected, the date range in thedate range section2030 is set to the selected pre-set date range.

In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to initiate a search in a database managed by thefirst SQL server340A by sending a query to thefirst SQL server340A to obtain from thefirst SQL server340A coordinates for positions of incidents with respect to themap2012 of the level or zone of the facility specified by the level/zone menu2010 that are associated with categories in the

category legends

2021,2022,2023,2024,2025, and that are associated with incident dates that are within the date range specified in thedate range section2030. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to generate theincidents distribution page2000 with icons, such as

icons

2051,2052,2053,2054,2055, placed on themap2012 to indicate the obtained positions of the incidents satisfying the level or zone, category, and date range search criteria. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to display theincidents distribution page2000 on a display screen of a display, such as a display screen of thedisplay160 of thecomputer100 ofFIG. 1, and to plot the icons, such as

icons

2051,2052,2053,2054,2055, at the coordinates to indicate the positions where the corresponding incidents occurred at the facility.

In various embodiments, the icons on themap2012 showing positions of incidents that occurred at a level or zone of a facility and that are associated with specified categories and that occurred within a specified date range are dynamically updated each time the level or zone is changed, and each time the specified categories are changed, and each time the specified date range is changed. For example, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed such that when the date range specified in thedate range section2030 is changed, the icons on themap2012, such as

icons

2051,2052,2053,2054,2055, are updated to only display icons for corresponding incidents have an incident date within the specified date range. In such embodiments, theclient computer321 may be programmed to automatically send a signal to theweb server310 when the date range is changed to indicate the newly specified date range, and theweb server310 may be programmed to update theincidents distribution page2000 such that the icons plotted on themap2012 correspond to incidents with incident dates within the newly specified date range, and theclient computer321 may be programmed to display the updatedincidents distribution page2000.

In various embodiments, each

category legend

2021,2022,2023,2024,2025, has an associated check box, or the like, for indicating whether or not icons for incidents of the corresponding category should be plotted on themap2012. Also, in various embodiments, each

category legend

2021,2022,2023,2024,2025, is associated with a corresponding color, and icons for incidents of the corresponding category plotted on themap2012 are shown in the corresponding color. For instance, in the example illustrated inFIG. 20: (i) a slip andfall category legend2021 is associated with a first color, and icons for slip and fall incidents, such asicon2051, are shown in the first color; (ii) an alarm-false category legend2022 is associated with a second color, and icons for alarm-false incidents, such asicon2052, are shown in the second color; (iii) atheft category legend2023 is associated with a third color, and icons for theft incidents, such asicon2053, are shown in the third color; (iv) a personal accident-injury not slip andfall category legend2024 is associated with a fourth color, and icons for personal accident-injury not slip and fall incidents, such asicon2054, are shown in the fourth color; and (v) a tenant leaseviolation category legend2025 is associated with a fifth color, and icons for tenant lease violation incidents, such asicon2055, are shown in the fifth color.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed such that, in a case where a check box of any of the

category legends

2021,2022,2023,2024,2025, is changed from being checked to unchecked, or from unchecked to checked, theclient computer321 automatically sends an update to theweb server310 indicating which check boxes of the

category legends

2021,2022,2023,2024,2025, are checked. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to update theincidents distribution page2000 to show only icons of incidents for categories corresponding to

category legends

2021,2022,2023,2024,2025, with check boxes that are checked, and theclient computer321 is configured to display the updatedincidents distribution page2000. Thus, in various embodiments, the icons displayed on themap2012 may be dynamically updated each time a check box for a

category legend

2021,2022,2023,2024,2025, is checked or unchecked, so as to display only icons for incidents associated with categories that are checked. In various embodiments, an incident is associated with a category if either the main category for the incident matches the category or the secondary main category for the incident matches the category.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed such that, in a case where the level or zone is changed using the level/zone menu2010, theclient computer321 automatically sends a request to theweb server310 to request that theincidents distribution page2000 be updated based on the selected level or zone. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to initiate a search by generating one or more SQL queries to send to thefirst SQL server340A upon receiving the update request from theclient computer321 to search for coordinates of positions of incidents with respect to a map of the selected level or zone, where the incidents are associated with categories selected in the

category legends

2021,2022,2023,2024,2025, and are associated with incident dates within the date range specified in thedate range section2030. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to update themap2012 to show a map of the newly selected level or zone of the facility, and to provide the map and coordinate information of the positions of the incidents returned from thefirst SQL server340A to theclient computer321. Also, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to dynamically change themap2012 to show the map of the newly selected level or zone and to dynamically plot icons at the coordinates provided by theweb server310 to show the positions of the corresponding incidents at the facility.

FIG. 21 illustrates anincidents distribution page2100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a date range. Theincidents distribution page2100 is similar to theincidents distribution page2000 ofFIG. 20, except that a date range in thedate range section2030 has been set to a date range of the “last 90 days” as indicated by the check in acheck box2031. As a consequence, the icons on themap2012 ofFIG. 21, such as

icons

2051,2052,2053,2054, are automatically updated from the icons on themap2012 ofFIG. 20 to show only incidents associated with incident dates that are within the last 90 days from a current date. Moreover, in the example provided inFIG. 21, there were no tenant lease violation incidents within the last 90 days, so the tenant leaseviolation category legend2025 ofFIG. 20 is automatically removed when theincidents distribution page2100 is created, and the

other category legends

2021,2022,2023,2024, fromFIG. 20 are automatically re-ordered by number of incidents in the category within the last 90 days for the level or zone of the facility when theincidents distribution page2100 is created. Thus, as illustrated by the differences betweenFIG. 20 andFIG. 21, in various embodiments, an incidents distribution page may be dynamically changed when different date ranges are selected in thedate range section2030.

FIG. 22 illustrates anincidents distribution page2200 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of another date range. Theincidents distribution page2200 is similar to theincidents distribution page2000 ofFIG. 20 and theincidents distribution page2100 ofFIG. 21, except that a date range in thedate range section2030 has been set to a date range of the “last 12 months” as indicated by the check in acheck box2033. As a consequence, the icons on themap2012 ofFIG. 22, such as

icons

2051,2052,2053,2054,2055, are automatically updated from the icons on themap2012 ofFIG. 21 to show incidents associated with incident dates that are within the last 12 months from a current date. In some embodiments, a narrative associated with an incident may be obtained by, for example, holding a shift key on a keyboard and clicking on an icon representing the incident on themap2012 using a mouse, a touch-pad, or the like. In various embodiments, theincidents distribution page2200 further includes aclose button2070 for closing theincidents distribution page2200.

FIG. 23 illustrates alocation map page2300 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that allows for defining a search area. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and 23, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to display thelocation map page2300 in a case where theincident map button511 is pressed on theincident page500. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to generate thelocation map page2300 based on one or both of the location name specified in thelocation name section551 and the level or zone specified in the level/zone section552 for a currently displayed incident in theincident page500. In such embodiments, theweb server310 may then provide the information for thelocation map page2300 to theclient computer321 to be displayed by theclient computer321. In some embodiments, thelocation map page2300 includes amap2310 of at least a portion of a facility specified by thelocation name section551 of theincident page500 for an incident.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to receive input that specifies a position associated with the incident at the facility. In some embodiments, the position is specified by positioning thecursor590 over themap2310 on a display screen of a display of theclient computer321 using, for example, a mouse, a touch-pad, or the like, and then receiving a mouse click, or the like, to place anicon2320 at specified coordinates represented by the location of thecursor590 over themap2310. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 may be programmed to send the coordinates of theicon2320 with respect to themap2310 to theweb server310, and theweb server310 may be programmed to issue one or more commands to cause thefirst SQL server340A to save the coordinates in a database in association with other information for the incident. In some embodiments, theicon2320 may be placed on themap2310 at an approximate position of occurrence of the related incident at the facility represented by themap2310. Thus, various embodiments allow for receiving input that specifies information about a position at a facility at which an incident has occurred.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to receive input that defines a search area adjacent to the position indicated by theicon2320 on themap2310, where the search area is changeable. In some embodiments, once theicon2320 has been placed on themap2310, thecursor590 may be controlled by a mouse, a touch-pad, a keyboard, or the like, to draw a polygon, a closed convex shape, or the like, on themap2310 to define a search area adjacent to the position indicated by theicon2320. In the example illustrated inFIG. 23, a boundary of the search area is defined by apolygon2330, which is a rectangle that surrounds theicon2320 on themap2310.

In some embodiments, the search area defined by thepolygon2330 is changeable by controlling thecursor590 to expand, shrink, move, change, or modify thepolygon2330. Also, in some embodiments, themap2310 is divided into a grid with coordinates, theicon2320 is located at particular coordinates on the grid, and thepolygon2330 is specified with reference to the grid. In various embodiments, theicon2320 indicating the position of the incident is displayed on themap2310 on a display screen of a display of theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to receive input that specifies the search area by highlighting pixels of the display screen. For example, a mouse, a touch-pad, a keyboard, or the like, may be used to draw a boundary of a search area on themap2310 by highlighting pixels, such as the pixels that are highlighted to show thepolygon2330.

Thus, various embodiments of the present invention allow for receiving input that specifies an incident at a facility, where the incident is associated with a position at the facility, and for defining a search area adjacent to the position, where the search area is changeable. Also, various embodiments allow for receiving input that specifies the search area in terms of a polygon, an ellipse, or the like, on a map of at least a portion of the facility on a display screen. Some embodiments allow for locating a position of an incident on a grid and for receiving input that specifies the search area with reference to the grid, such as by providing coordinates of a polygon on the grid that defines a boundary of the search area. Also, some embodiments allow for displaying a position of an incident on a map of at least a portion of a facility on a display screen, and for receiving input that specifies a search area by highlighting pixels of the display screen.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to send coordinates representing thepolygon2330 to theweb server310 once thepolygon2330 has been drawn on themap2310. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to receive the coordinates of thepolygon2330 that defines the search area, and is programmed to initiate a search in a database managed by thefirst SQL server340A by, for example, generating one or more SQL queries to send to thefirst SQL server340A to find other incidents that occurred at the facility and that are each associated with a corresponding position that is within the search area defined by thepolygon2330. In various embodiments, thefirst SQL server340A is configured to determine incidents associated with coordinates for themap2310 that are within the search area defined by thepolygon2330. For example, thefirst SQL server340A may be configured to receive coordinates for a search area from theweb server310 and to determine mathematically other incidents that are associated with coordinates for positions that are within a boundary specified by the coordinates of the search area, and to provide information about those other incidents. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 may be programmed to convert between coordinates on themap2310 and positions at the facility represented by the coordinates by scaling according to a scale of themap2310 to the facility. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to provide coordinates to theclient computer321 that specify locations of one or more other incidents that occurred at the facility indicated by themap2310 and that are each associated with a corresponding position that is within the search area defined by thepolygon2330. Also, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to receive the coordinates for the one or more other incidents from theweb server310 and to display icons at the coordinates so as to display the one or more other incidents that occurred at the facility and that are each associated with a corresponding position that is within the search area defined by thepolygon2330.

FIG. 24 illustrates alocation map page2400 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention in which incidents associated with positions within a search area are displayed. Thelocation map page2400 illustrates an updated version of thelocation map page2300 ofFIG. 23 after thepolygon2330 has been drawn over a portion of themap2310 to define a search area surrounding theicon2320, where themap2310 is a map of at least a portion of a facility. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 24, in various embodiments theclient computer321 is programmed to display one or more icons, such as

icons

2421 and2422, indicating positions of one or more other incidents that occurred at the facility, where the positions of the one or more other incidents are within the search area defined by thepolygon2330. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to automatically display the icons for the one or more other incidents on a display screen of a display once the search area has been defined.

FIG. 25 illustrates alocation map page2500 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a changing of a search area. Thelocation map page2500 ofFIG. 25 is similar to thelocation map page2400 ofFIG. 24, except that the search area defined by thepolygon2330 has been changed to the search area defined by apolygon2530. In the example ofFIG. 25, thepolygon2530 has been made smaller than thepolygon2330 ofFIG. 24, so as to define a smaller search area adjacent to the position indicated by theicon2320. In various other embodiments, the search area may be expanded, shifted, rotated, or the like, by expanding, shifting, or rotating thepolygon2530. With reference toFIGS. 3, 24, and 25, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 includes a pointing device, such as thepointing device150 of thecomputer100 ofFIG. 1, which may include a mouse, a touch-pad, a track-pad, or the like, for moving thecursor590 on a display screen of a display of theclient computer321, such as thedisplay160 of thecomputer100 ofFIG. 1. Also, in various embodiments, thecursor590 may be controlled to change a position of thepolygon2530 with respect to themap2310, change a size of thepolygon2530, rotate thepolygon2530, or the like, so as to change the search area.

FIG. 26 illustrates alocation map page2600 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that allows for defining a search area and for specifying categories of incidents to be displayed and for specifying a date range of incidents to be displayed. Thelocation map page2600 ofFIG. 26 is similar to thelocation map page2400 ofFIG. 24, but thelocation map page2600 includes

category legends

2652,2654,2656, that allow for specifying categories of incidents to be displayed, and thelocation map page2600 includes adate range section2660 for specifying a date range of incidents to be displayed. With reference toFIGS. 3, 24, and 26, in various embodiments theweb server310 is programmed to determine the categories of incidents with positions that are within the search area defined by thepolygon2330, and to provide the

category legends

2652,2654,2656, to theclient computer321 that include the categories of the incidents with positions that are within the search area defined by thepolygon2330. For example, theweb server310 may be programmed to generate one or more SQL queries to send to thefirst SQL server340A to determine the categories of the incidents with positions that are within the search area defined by thepolygon2330.

Also, in various embodiments, each of the

category legends

2652,2654,2656, may have a check box, or the like, for indicating whether or not incidents of the corresponding category should be displayed. For instance, in the example ofFIG. 26, a check box for a personal accident-injury not slip andfall category legend2652 is checked, a check box for a propertydamage category legend2654 is unchecked, and a check box for an alarm-false category legend2656 is checked, so that only incidents with main categories or secondary main categories that are personal accident-injury not slip and fall or alarm-false are displayed in thelocation map page2600. In various embodiments, each of the

category legends

2652,2654,2656, may be associated with a corresponding color, and icons representing positions of incidents on themap2310, such as

icons

2320,2421,2422, may be shown in a color corresponding to the category to which they are associated. For instance, in the example ofFIG. 26, theicon2421 is of a same color as the personal accident-injury not slip andfall category legend2652, indicating that theicon2421 represents a position of an incident that is associated with the category of personal accident-injury not slip and fall.

In various embodiments, thelocation map page2600 includes thedate range section2660 and theclient computer321 is programmed to dynamically plot, each time a search area is changed on themap2310 and an associated date range is indicated in thedate range section2660, positions on themap2310 within the search area where incidents have occurred at the facility associated with themap2310 within the date range. In some embodiments, thedate range section2660 may include various selections, such as “last 90 days”, “last 180 days”, “last 12 months”, “year to date”, or the like. Also, in some embodiments, thedate range section2660 may allow for setting a date range to any desired range. In the example ofFIG. 26, a check has been placed in thedate range section2660 to indicate that only incidents with incident dates within the last 12 months should be shown with icons on themap2310. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to send information to theweb server310 each time a date range is changed in thedate range section2660, and theweb server310 is programmed to send information to theclient computer321 to update thelocation map page2600 to show only incidents with incident dates within the date range. In various embodiments, theweb server310 may determine incidents with incident dates within a date range by, for example, generating one or more SQL queries to send to thefirst SQL server340A to search a database within thefirst SQL server340A to return only incidents with incident dates within the date range.

FIG. 27 illustrates alocation map page2700 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that allows for defining a search area. Thelocation map page2700 ofFIG. 27 is similar to thelocation map page2400 ofFIG. 24, but a search area in thelocation map page2700 is defined by a closed convex shape such as anellipse2730 or the like, rather than by a polygon. In various embodiments, theellipse2730 may be a circle. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 27, in various embodiments theclient computer321 is programmed to receive input that specifies a position of an incident at a facility, such as by receiving a click with thecursor590 to specify a location of anicon2720 representing a position of an incident on amap2710 of at least a portion of the facility. Also, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to define a search area adjacent to the position of the incident specified by theicon2720 on themap2710 by, for example, receiving input using thecursor590 that specifies theellipse2730. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to display one or more other incidents that occurred at the facility and that are each associated with a corresponding position that is within the search area specified by theellipse2730, such as by displaying one or more icons representing positions of the other incidents like

icons

2721 and2722.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to send coordinates representing a position and a shape of theellipse2730 with respect to a grid to theweb server310, so as to provide the search area to theweb server310. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to determine the one or more other incidents that occurred at the facility and that are each associated with a corresponding position that is within the search area specified by theellipse2730, and to provide information about the one or more other incidents to theclient computer321. In some embodiments, the search area is specified as an area within a particular radial distance from a position represented by theicon2720 that is a position of a currently entered incident. For example, in various embodiments, a search area may be specified as being within “n” meters of a position of an incident, where “n” is a real value. Also, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 and/or theweb server310 may be programmed to automatically define a search area adjacent to a position of an incident upon receiving input that specifies the position of the incident based on one or more stored values. For instance, in various embodiments, in a case where theicon2720 is placed on themap2710, a search area may be automatically determined to be within “n” meters in terms of distance at the facility represented by themap2710. In such embodiments, a circle, such as theellipse2730, may be automatically displayed to show the search area on themap2710 in terms of a scale of themap2710 to the actual facility, and one or more other incidents may be displayed that occurred at the facility and that are each associated with a corresponding position that is within the search area.

FIG. 28 illustrates alocation map page2800 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a change of a search area. Thelocation map page2800 ofFIG. 28 is similar to thelocation map page2700 ofFIG. 27, except that a search area defined by theellipse2730 has been changed to a search area defined by anellipse2830. In various embodiments, theellipse2730 may be changed in shape, changed in position, or the like, such as is shown by theellipse2830, which is smaller than theellipse2730 and is shifted in position. In various embodiments, theellipse2830 defines a search area adjacent to a position of an incident indicated byicon2720. Also, in various embodiments, themap2710 is a map of at least a portion of a facility, and one or more other incidents are displayed on themap2710 that occurred at the facility and that are each associated with a corresponding position that is within the search area defined by theellipse2830. For instance, theicon2722 may be displayed on themap2710 to show a position of an incident that occurred at the facility within the search area defined by theellipse2830.

In various embodiments, the one or more other incidents displayed on themap2710 are associated with either a same main category or a same secondary main category as a main category and a secondary main category of the incident specified by theicon2720. For instance, in various embodiments, in a case where a main category of the incident represented by theicon2720 is theft and a secondary main category of the incident is arrest by police, only other incidents with either a main category or a secondary main category that are theft or arrest by police and that are within the search area specified by theellipse2830 are displayed on themap2710. In such embodiments, theweb server310 may be programmed to determine incidents with a same main category or secondary main category by issuing one or more SQL queries to thefirst SQL server340A.

FIG. 29 illustrates alocation map page2900 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In various embodiments, thelocation map page2900 includes amap2910 of at least a portion of a facility, and a grid is defined with respect to themap2910. For example, in various embodiments, a lower left corner of themap2910 may represent coordinates of (x=0, y=0) on the grid, where the x coordinate increases along a horizontal direction of themap2910 and the y coordinate increases along a vertical direction of themap2910. Then, in various embodiments, a position of an incident may be specified by an icon, such as theicon2920, located on themap2910, where theicon2920 is associated with coordinates on the grid.

FIG. 30 illustrates alocation map page3000 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that allows for specifying multiple search areas. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 30, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 may be programmed to allow for multiple search areas to be defined on themap2910 in which a position of a currently specified incident is provided by an icon, such as theicon2920. For example, in thelocation map page3000 ofFIG. 30, three search areas have been defined by arectangle3030, arectangle3040, and arectangle3050, respectively. Once the search areas have been defined, other incidents that occurred in the search areas are displayed, such as shown by

icons

3031 and3032 withinrectangle3030,

icons

3041 and3042 withinrectangle3040, and

icons

3051 and3052 withinrectangle3050. In various embodiments, rather than using only polygons or ellipses, search areas may be defined by any desired shape and may even be drawn in free-form.

FIG. 31 illustrates abusiness incident report3100 for a business having stores at multiple facilities. With reference toFIG. 19, in various embodiments thereports menu page1900 may include a business incident report button (not shown) for requesting business incident reports, such as thebusiness incident report3100. With reference toFIG. 17, in various embodiments, each incident may be associated with a nearest tenant at a facility by specifying a nearest tenant in thenearest tenant section1670. In some embodiments, a business may have stores at multiple facilities and, thus, the business may be a tenant at multiple facilities. For instance, in the example ofFIG. 31, a business named “Bagel Pavilion” has stores at facilities in New York, Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

With reference toFIGS. 3 and 31, in various embodiments theclient computer321 may be programmed to receive a request for a business incident report to display information about incidents that are related to stores of a business and that occurred within a date range. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to send information about the business and the date range to theweb server310, and theweb server310 is programmed to generate one or more SQL queries to send to thefirst SQL server340A to find incidents in which a store of the business has been specified as the nearest tenant and which are associated with incident dates within the date range. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to supply a business incident report with information about the incidents returned from theSQL server340A to theclient computer321 to be displayed by theclient computer321. For instance, in thebusiness incident report3100, incidents near stores of the “Bagel Pavilion” at multiple facilities occurring in the year 2003 or later are displayed for viewing. In various embodiments, thebusiness incident report3100 includes columns specifying, for each incident, a facility location where the incident occurred, an incident date on which the incident occurred, an incident category associated with the incident, and an incident sub-category associated with the incident.

In various embodiments, thebusiness incident report3100 may be updated to display only incidents of a same type as a type of a currently specified incident. In some embodiments, a type of an incident is a main category of the incident. Also, in some embodiments, a type of an incident is a main category and a sub-category of the incident. In some embodiments, a type of an incident is one or more of a main category of the incident, a sub-category of the incident, a secondary main category of the incident, and a secondary sub-category of the incident. For example, in various embodiments an incident type of an incident may be specified as slip and fall, and thebusiness incident report3100 may be updated to show only incidents with incident categories that are slip and fall. Thus, various embodiments allow for displaying information about incident of a same type as a specified type that are related to stores of a business and that occurred within a date range, where the business has stores at multiple facilities.

FIG. 32 illustrates anincident category report3200 for a facility in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. With reference toFIG. 19, in various embodiments thereports menu page1900 includes the select categories button in theanalysis section1912 of thelocation reports section1910, and when the select categories button is pressed, one or more categories and a date range may be selected to produce a report for a level or zone of a facility specified in thelocation reports section1910. In the exampleincident category report3200 ofFIG. 32, a single category of slip and fall has been selected for the report and a date range of November 2006 to October 2007 has been selected for the report forlevel 1 of a New York Center facility.

With reference toFIGS. 3 and 32, in various embodiments theclient computer321 is programmed to send information about a name of a facility, a level or zone of the facility, a desired category, and a date range to theweb server310, and theweb server310 is programmed to generate one or more SQL queries to send to thefirst SQL server340A to obtain information about incidents that occurred at the level or zone of the facility and that are associated with a main category or secondary main category that matches the desired category and that have an incident date within the date range. In various embodiments, theweb server310 may be programmed to produce an incident category report, such as theincident category report3200, with a bar graph, or the like, showing a number of incidents per month within the date range that occurred at the level or zone of the facility and that are associated with the desired category.

FIG. 33 illustrates anincident count report3300 for a facility in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. With reference toFIGS. 19 and 33, in various embodiments thereports menu page1900 includes the incident per category button in thelocation reports section1910, and an incident count report such as theincident count report3300 is generated for a facility specified in thelocation reports section1910 when the incident per category button is pressed. In various embodiments, theincident count report3300 includes abar chart3310, or the like, showing a count of incidents associated with each category at the specified facility within a specified date range. In various embodiments, each incident is counted for both the main category associated with the incident and the secondary main category associated with the incident. Also, in various embodiments, theincident count report3300 further includes a table3320 with columns showing, for each incident counted in the bar graph, an incident ID of the incident, a category of the incident, an incident date and time of the incident, and a short description associated with the incident. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 33, in various embodiments, information for theincident count report3300 may be obtained by theclient computer321 from theweb server310 that issues one or more queries to thefirst SQL server340A in response to a request for theincident count report3300.

FIG. 34 illustrates a people count/vehiclecount report page3400 for a facility in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. With reference toFIGS. 19 and 34, in various embodiments thereports menu page1900 includes the people counters button in thelocation reports section1910, and in a case where the people counters button is pressed, a people count/vehicle count report page such as the people count/vehiclecount report page3400 is displayed for a facility specified in thelocation reports section1910. In various embodiments, laser beams, cameras, or the like, may be positioned at entrances of a facility and may be connected to a computing device that counts people crossing the laser beams or passing in front of the cameras. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 34, in various embodiments, the count of people entering each facility may be stored in a database in thefirst SQL server340A.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 may receive a request to display a count of people entering a facility within a date range. For instance, in the example illustrated inFIG. 34, a count of people entering a facility is shown by month for two different years, and a total difference and percentage difference between the counts in each year is provided for each month. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to send a request to theweb server310 for the people count information, and theweb server310 is programmed to generate one or more SQL queries to obtain the people count information from thefirst SQL server340A, and to provide the people count information to theclient computer321. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 displays the people count information when apeople count tab3410 of the people count/vehiclecount report page3400 is selected. In various embodiments, vehicles entering a facility may be counted similar to the counting of people by counting vehicles entering parking lots of the facility, or the like. Then, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 may be programmed to display vehicle count information for the facility when avehicle count tab3420 of the people count/vehiclecount report page3400 is selected. In some embodiments, the people count/vehiclecount report page3400 includes one ormore chart buttons3430 for obtaining people count reports for specified years, such as is illustrated inFIG. 35.

FIG. 35 illustrates apeople count report3500 for a facility for a specified year in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. With reference toFIGS. 34 and 35, in various embodiments, when one of the one ormore chart buttons3430 are pressed, a people count report such as the people countreport3500 is generated from information displayed in the people count/vehiclecount report page3400. In various embodiments, the people countreport3500 includes abar chart3510, or the like, for showing a number of people visiting a facility per month over the course of a year, and includes a table3520 indicating a number of people visiting the facility per month over the course of the year.

FIG. 36 illustrates a report by day ofweek3600 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. With reference toFIGS. 19 and 36, in various embodiments, in a case where the day of the week button of theincident statistics section1920 of thereports menu page1900 is pressed, information may be entered including a name of a facility, a level or zone of the facility, a category, and a date range, to obtain a report by day of week such as the report by day ofweek3600. As illustrated by the example report by day ofweek3600, a report by day of week may provide a count of incidents associated with a category at a level or zone of a facility for each day of the week for incidents that occurred within a specified date range. In various embodiments, an incident is counted for a category if either the main category specified for the incident or the secondary main category specified for the incident matches the category. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 36, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to send a request for a report by day of week to theweb server310, theweb server310 is programmed to obtain information needed for the report from thefirst SQL server340A, theweb server310 is programmed to provide the report to theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display the report.

FIG. 37 illustrates a report by time ofday3700 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. With reference toFIGS. 19 and 37, in various embodiments, in a case where the time of day button of theincident statistics section1920 of thereports menu page1900 is pressed, information may be entered including a name of a facility, a level or zone of the facility, a category, and a date range, to obtain a report by time of day such as the report by time ofday3700. As illustrated by the example report by time ofday3700, a report by time of day may provide a count of incidents associated with a category at a level or zone of a facility for each hour of the day for incidents that occurred within a specified date range. In various embodiments, an incident is counted for a category if either the main category specified for the incident or the secondary main category specified for the incident matches the category. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 37, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to send a request for a report by time of day to theweb server310, theweb server310 is programmed to obtain information needed for the report from thefirst SQL server340A, theweb server310 is programmed to provide the report to theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display the report.

FIG. 38 illustrates a peopleinvolved page3800 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for specifying people involved in an incident. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and38, in various embodiments, in a case where theclient computer321 receives input in which the people involvedbutton513 of theincident page500 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends a request to theweb server310 for the people involvedpage3800 to specify people involved in an incident that is currently displayed in theincident page500 when the people involvedbutton513 is pressed. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to provide the people involvedpage3800 in response to the request from theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display the people involvedpage3800.

In various embodiments, the people involvedpage3800 for an incident includes ageneral information tab3801, adetails tab3802, amedical information tab3803, and aperson narrative tab3804. In various embodiments, when thegeneral information tab3801 is selected, the people involvedpage3800 includes apersonal information section3810, agender section3820, acontact information section3830, apersonal identification section3840, anaddress section3850, anadd button3861, anedit button3862, adelete button3863, a people involvedlist3870, and asave button3880.

In various embodiments, thepersonal information section3810 includes one or more text boxes, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a first name, a middle initial, and a last name of a person involved in the incident. Also, in various embodiments, thepersonal information section3810 includes aperson type section3811 for indicating a role that the person played in the incident. For example, theperson type section3811 may include a drop-down list, or the like, for selecting a role that the person played in the incident from a list of available roles, such as reporting party, security officer, suspect, tenant employee, vehicle operator, vehicle owner, victim, with injured, or the like. In some embodiments, theperson type section3811 further includes one or more text boxes, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a social security number of the person involved in the incident. Also, in some embodiments, theclient computer321 may be able to communicate with a federal database to check that an entered social security number is a valid social security number for the specified person.

In various embodiments, thegender section3820 includes a radio button, or the like, for specifying a gender of the person involved in the incident, such as male, female, or unknown. In various embodiments, thecontact information section3830 includes one or more text boxes, or the like, for receiving input that specifies one or more of a home phone number of the person, a work phone number of the person, a cell-phone number of the person, a pager number of the person, an e-mail address of the person, and the like.

In various embodiments, thepersonal identification section3840 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down menus, check boxes, or the like, for specifying one or more of a driver's license or identification number of the person, a state of issuance of the driver's license or identification number, another identification number and type for the person, whether the person is a minor, a guardian of the person if the person is a minor, a date of birth of the person, and an approximate age of the person. In various embodiments, theaddress section3850 includes one or more text boxes, or the like, for receiving input that specifies one or more of a street address, a city, a state, a zip code, and a country of a residence of the person.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed such that in a case where theadd button3861 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends information entered in the people involvedpage3800 to theweb server310, and theweb server310 is programmed to generate one or more commands to cause thefirst SQL server340A to store the information into a database in association with other information related to the incident. Also, in various embodiments, in a case where theadd button3861 is pressed, the people involvedpage3800 is updated to show information about the added person in the people involvedlist3870. In some embodiments, each time a new person is added for an incident, information for the new person is added to the people involvedlist3870, which shows a list of the people involved in the incident. In various embodiments, the people involvedlist3870 shows, for each person involved in the incident, a person type indicating a role the person played in the incident, a first name of the person, a last name of the person, a gender of the person, a social security number (SSN) of the person, and an indication as to whether or not the person was injured in the incident.

In various embodiments, a person may be highlighted in the people involvedlist3870, and theedit button3862 may be pressed to edit information entered in the people involvedpage3800 for the person. Also, in various embodiments, a person may be highlighted in the people involvedlist3870, and thedelete button3863 may be pressed to delete the person from the people involvedlist3870 and to cause the database in thefirst SQL server340A to be updated to no longer associate the deleted person with the incident. In various embodiments, thesave button3880 may be pressed to send information entered in the people involvedpage3800 from theclient computer321 to theweb server310 to have theweb server310 cause the information to be stored in a database in thefirst SQL server340A.

FIG. 39 illustrates a peopleinvolved page3900 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a role a person played in an incident. The people involvedpage3900 ofFIG. 39 is similar to the people involvedpage3800 ofFIG. 38, and shows theperson type section3811 as a drop-down menu for selecting a person type for a person from a list of available person types. In various embodiments, the person type for a person specifies a role that the person played in the corresponding incident. In the example shown inFIG. 39, some of the available roles include reporting party, security officer, suspect, tenant employee, vehicle operator, vehicle owner, victim, and with injured. As an example, in a case where a person was a victim in an incident, a person type for the person may be selected as victim in theperson type section3811.

FIG. 40 illustrates a peopleinvolved page4000 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows an identification of a person as being of interest in a case where the person has been involved in one or more other incidents. The people involvedpage4000 ofFIG. 40 is similar to the people involvedpage3800 ofFIG. 38. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 40, in various embodiments, in a case where a name of a person involved in an incident at a facility is entered in thepersonal information section3810 and a person type is selected for the person in theperson type section3811 and theadd button3861 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends the name of the person and the person type to theweb server310. In various embodiments, theweb server310 generates a SQL query to send to thefirst SQL server340A to determine whether or not a person with a same name as the received name is already associated with one or more other incidents.

In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed such that, in a case where theweb server310 determines that a person with a same name as the received name is already associated with one or more other incidents, theweb server310 identifies the person being added in the people involvedpage4000 as being a person of interest. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed such that in a case where the person being added is identified as being a person of interest, theweb server310 causes theclient computer321 to display as warning, such as awarning message4030, on a display screen of a display of theclient computer321. In some embodiments, a person is identified as being of interest if the person has been involved in one or more other incidents at the facility.

For instance, in the example illustrated inFIG. 40, a person named Uri Gal is specified as a person making a complaint in an incident at a facility in thepersonal information section3810 and theadd button3861 has been pressed to add Uri Gal as a person involved in the incident. Also, in the example illustrated inFIG. 40, when theadd button3861 is pressed, it is automatically determined whether or not the name Uri Gal already exists with respect to one or more other incidents, and the person being added is automatically identified as being of interest because the name Uri Gal already exists with respect to one or more other incidents. Moreover, in the example illustrated inFIG. 40, thewarning message4030 is automatically displayed to warn a user that the name Uri Gal already exists in the system.

Thus, various embodiments allow for receiving input that specifies an incident at a facility including a name of a person associated with the incident and a role the person played in the incident, and for automatically identifying the person as being of interest if the person has been involved in one or more other incidents at the facility. Also, various embodiments allow for automatically displaying a warning on a display screen of a display in a case where the person has been identified as being of interest.

FIG. 41 illustrates a matching people foundpage4100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. With reference toFIGS. 3, 40, and 41, theweb server310 may be programmed to provide the matching people foundpage4100 to theclient computer321 in a case where an “ok” button of thewarning message4030 is pressed, where thewarning message4030 indicates that a name of a person entered for an incident at a facility is already associated with one or more other incidents. In various embodiments, the matching people foundpage4100 includes a matchingpeople list4110, aperson information section4120, and aselection section4130.

In various embodiments, the matching people list4110 includes a list of people with a same name as a name to be added in the people involvedpage4000. In various embodiments, the matching people list4110 includes, for each potential matching person, a person ID that is a unique identifier for the person, a first name of the person, a last name of the person, a gender of the person, a social security number of the person, a date of birth of the person, and an indication as to whether or not the person is a flagged person. Also, in various embodiments, in a case where a person is highlighted in the matching people list4110, information for the person is displayed in theperson information section4120.

In various embodiments, theperson information section4120 includes one or more text boxes, or the like, for providing information about a person, such as a person ID of the person, a first name of the person, a last name of the person, a date of birth of the person, a social security number of the person, and a gender of the person. In some embodiments, theperson information section4120 includes aperson involvement list4122 that shows other incidents in which the person has been involved. In various embodiments, theperson involvement list4122 includes information for each incident in which the person has been involved, such as an incident ID that specifies the incident ID of the incident, an incident date of the incident, a role the person played in the incident that specifies how the person was involved in the incident, a location name of a facility at which the incident occurred, and an indication of whether or not the person was injured in the incident.

In various embodiments, theperson information section4120 includes a flaggedperson section4124 for specifying whether or not the person is a flagged person. In some embodiments, flagging a person indicates that the person is of great interest and is at a greater risk than the average population of being involved in incidents. In various embodiments, one or more of theclient computer321, theweb server310, and thefirst SQL server340A is programmed to automatically flag a person as being of interest in a case where the person has played a same role as a role indicated in theperson type section3811 in at least one other incident at the facility. Thus, various embodiments allow for flagging a person in a case where the person has played a same role in at least two incidents at a facility. In some embodiments, the flaggedperson section4124 includes a check box, or the like, that also allows for a user to flag a person.

In various embodiments, theselection section4130 includes a radio button, or the like, that allows for a selection from among options such as: (i) none of the above is the person I am entering; and (ii) use the selected person. Thus, theselection section4130 allows for specifying whether the person to be added is the selected person from the matching people list4110 or whether the person to be added does not exist in the matching people list and should be added as a new person.

FIG. 42 illustrates a peopleinvolved page4200 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows fields for entering details about a person involved in an incident at a facility. In the people involvedpage4200, thedetails tab3802 has been selected. In various embodiments the people involvedpage4200 includes aphysical information section4210, anemployment information section4220, a request andattitude section4230, and a type ofshoes section4240.

In various embodiments, thephysical information section4210 includes one or more text boxes, check boxes, or the like, for providing physical information about the person such as height, weight, hair color, eye color, distinctive features, and whether or not the person was wearing glasses, has a beard, was using a walker, was carrying a cane, was carrying packages, or other. In various embodiments, theemployment information section4220 includes one or more text boxes, or the like, for providing employment information about the person such as occupation, employer name, employer phone number, supervisor name, employee number, and department.

In various embodiments, the request andattitude section4230 includes one or more text boxes, or the like, for receiving input specifying the person's requests, the person's attitude, or the like. In various embodiments, the type ofshoes section4240 includes information concerning a type of shoes the person was wearing during the incident, such as shoe type, sole type, brand name, color, heel type, shoe conditions, and the like. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 42, in various embodiments, a save button of the people involvedpage4200 may be pressed to send information entered in the people involvedpage4200 from theclient computer321 to theweb server310 to have theweb server310 cause the information to be stored in a database in thefirst SQL server340A in association with other information related to the incident.

FIG. 43 illustrates a peopleinvolved page4300 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows fields for entering medical information about a person involved in an incident at a facility. In the people involvedpage4300, themedical information tab3803 has been selected. In various embodiments, the people involvedpage4300 includes amedical information section4310. In various embodiments, themedical information section4310 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down lists, check boxes, or the like, for specifying medical information about the person such as whether or not the person was injured in the incident, which body part of the person was affected, and the nature of the injury.

In various embodiments, themedical information section4310 further includes amedical attention section4320. In various embodiments, themedical attention section4320 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down lists, check boxes, or the like, for receiving input concerning medical attention, such as whether the person needed medical attention, whether the person refused medical attention, whether medical attention was rendered on the person, who treated the person, whether the person was hospitalized as a result of the incident, a name of the hospital, who transported the person to the hospital, where the person was transported from, a date and time a medical crew arrived, and a date and time the medical crew departed. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 43, in various embodiments, a save button of the people involvedpage4300 may be pressed to send information entered in the people involvedpage4300 from theclient computer321 to theweb server310 to have theweb server310 cause the information to be stored in a database in thefirst SQL server340A in association with other information related to the incident.

FIG. 44 illustrates a peopleinvolved page4400 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a field for entering a narrative obtained from a person involved in an incident at a facility. In the people involvedpage4400, theperson narrative tab3804 has been selected. In various embodiments, the people involvedpage4400 includesnarrative section4410 with a text box, or the like, for receiving input that specifies information gathered from the person involved in the incident. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 44, in various embodiments, a save button of the people involvedpage4400 may be pressed to send information entered in the people involvedpage4400 from theclient computer321 to theweb server310 to have theweb server310 cause the information to be stored in a database in thefirst SQL server340A in association with other information related to the incident.

FIG. 45 illustrates an items involvedpage4500 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for receiving input that specifies information about one or more items involved in an incident. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and 45, in various embodiments, in a case where theclient computer321 receives input in which the items involvedbutton514 of theincident page500 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends a request to theweb server310 for the items involvedpage4500 to specify items involved in an incident that is currently displayed in theincident page500 when the items involvedbutton514 is pressed. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to provide the items involvedpage4500 in response to the request from theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display the items involvedpage4500.

In various embodiments, the items involvedpage4500 for an incident at a facility includes anitem type section4510, anitem properties section4520, anitem description section4530, aload button4542, anitem picture section4544, anadd item button4550, and an items involvedlist4560. In various embodiments, theitem type section4510 includes a drop-down list, a text box, or the like, for receiving input that specifies an item type of an item, such as a damaged item, a stolen item, a returned item, or the like. In various embodiments, theitem properties section4520 includes anitem dimensions section4522 and anitem weight section4524. In various embodiments, theitem dimensions section4522 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down lists, or the like, for specifying information about dimension of the item, such as a length, a width, and a height of the item, and a unit of measurement. In various embodiments, theitem weight section4524 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down lists, or the like, for specifying information about a weight of the item, such as a weight of the item and a unit of measurement.

In various embodiments, theitem description section4530 includes one or more text boxes, or the like, for specifying information about a description of the item, such as a quantity of the item involved in the incident, an item description such as a name of the item, a universal product code (UPC) of the item, an item code of the item, a value of the item, a location of the item, and other comments. Also, in various embodiments, theitem description section4530 further includes acontact information section4532 for specifying contact information for the item, such as a contact name and a contact number. In various embodiments, theload button4542 allows for loading a picture of the item from a storage device and for showing the loaded picture of the item in theitem picture section4544.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed such that in a case where theadd item button4550 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends information entered in the items involvedpage4500 to theweb server310, and theweb server310 is programmed to generate one or more commands to cause thefirst SQL server340A to store the information into a database in association with other information related to the incident. Also, in various embodiments, in a case where theadd item button4550 is pressed, the items involvedpage4500 is updated to show information about the added item in the items involvedlist4560. In some embodiments, each time a new item is added for an incident, information for the new item is added to the items involvedlist4560, which shows a list of the items involved in the incident. In various embodiments, the items involvedlist4560 shows, for each item involved in the incident, a quantity of the item involved in the incident, an item description of the item, a value of the item, an item type of the item, and a total value taking into account the value of the item and the quantity of the item involved in the incident.

FIG. 46 illustrates an items involvedpage4600 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows an identification of an item as being of interest in a case where the item has been involved in one or more other incidents. The items involvedpage4600 ofFIG. 46 is similar to the items involvedpage4500 ofFIG. 45. With reference toFIGS. 3, 45, and46, in various embodiments, in a case where at least one of an item description, an item UPC, and an item code is entered in theitem description section4530 and theadd item button4550 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends the at least one of the item description, the item UPC, and the item code to theweb server310. In various embodiments, theweb server310 generates a SQL query to send to thefirst SQL server340A to determine whether or not an item with at least one of a same item description, a same item UPC, or a same item code as the received at least one of the item description, the item UPC, and the item code is already associated with one or more other incidents.

In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed such that, in a case where theweb server310 determines that there is a match of at least one of the item description, the item UPC, and the item code with an item already involved in one or more other incidents, theweb server310 identifies the item being added in the items involvedpage4500 as being an item of interest. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed such that in a case where the item being added is identified as being an item of interest, theweb server310 causes theclient computer321 to display a warning, such as awarning message4610, on a display screen of a display of theclient computer321. In such embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to display the warning, such as thewarning message4610 on the display screen. In some embodiments, an item is identified as being of interest if the item has been involved in one or more other incidents at the facility.

For instance, in the example illustrated inFIGS. 45 and 46, an item named “Sony CD-R Music 10pack 80 min.” is specified as an item involved in an incident at a facility in theitem description section4530 and theadd item button4550 has been pressed to add the item as being involved in the incident. Also, in the example illustrated inFIGS. 45 and 46, when theadd item button4550 is pressed, it is automatically determined whether or not the item name “Sony CD-R Music 10pack 80 min.” already exists with respect to one or more other incidents, and the item being added is automatically identified as being of interest because the name already exists with respect to one or more other incidents. Moreover, in the example illustrated inFIGS. 45 and 46, thewarning message4610 is automatically displayed to warn a user that the item already exists in the system.

In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to determine how many times items of a same type, items having a same item description, items having a same item UPC, and/or items having a same item code as a currently added item in the items involvedpage4600 have been involved in incidents at the facility within a specified date range. In such embodiments, theweb server310 may be programmed to make such a determination by generating one or more SQL queries to send to thefirst SQL server340A to retrieve such information, and theweb server310 may be programmed to send the information to theclient computer321. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to display information related to how many times items of a same type, items having a same item description, items having a same item UPC, and/or items having a same item code as a currently added item in the items involvedpage4600 have been involved in incidents at the facility within the specified date range.

Thus, various embodiments allow for receiving input that specifies an item involved in an incident at a facility and for identifying the item as being of interest in a case where the item has been involved in one or more other incidents at the facility. Also, various embodiments allow for displaying a warning on a display screen in a case where the item is identified as being of interest. Moreover, various embodiments allow for displaying information relating to how many times items of a same type, items having a same item description, items having a same item UPC, and/or items having a same item code as a currently added item have been involved in incidents within a specified date range.

FIG. 47 illustrates a vehicles involvedpage4700 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for receiving input that specifies information about one or more vehicles involved in an incident. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and 47, in various embodiments, in a case where theclient computer321 receives input in which the vehicles involvedbutton515 of theincident page500 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends a request to theweb server310 for the vehicles involvedpage4700 to specify vehicles involved in an incident that is currently displayed in theincident page500 when the vehicles involvedbutton515 is pressed. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to provide the vehicles involvedpage4700 in response to the request from theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display the vehicles involvedpage4700.

In various embodiments, the vehicles involvedpage4700 for an incident at a facility includes a vehicle detailssection4710, anadditional information section4760, anadd button4770, and a vehicles involvedlist4780. In various embodiments, thevehicle details section4710 includes avehicle ID section4720, avehicle type section4730, acolors section4740, and anowner information section4750.

In various embodiments, thevehicle ID section4720 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down lists, or the like, for receiving input that specifies identification information about a vehicle, such as a license plate number of the vehicle, a state of registration of the vehicle, a vehicle identification number (VIN number) of the vehicle, a manufacturer or make of the vehicle, a model of the vehicle, and a year of the vehicle. In various embodiments, thevehicle type section4730 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down lists, or the like, for receiving input that specifies information about the vehicle, such as vehicle type and number of doors of the vehicle.

In various embodiments, thecolors section4740 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down lists, menus, or the like, for receiving input that specifies colors of the vehicles, such as exterior color, interior color, and distinctive features of the vehicle. In various embodiments, theowner information section4750 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down lists, radio buttons, or the like, for receiving input that specifies information about an owner of the vehicle, such as whether the vehicle is a customer's vehicle or a tenant vehicle or a security vehicle or a company vehicle, a first name of the owner, a last name of the owner, a street address, a city, a state, a zip code, and a country of the owner. In various embodiments, theadditional information section4760 includes one or more text boxes, check boxes, or the like, for receiving input that specifies additional information about the vehicle, such as whether there has been damage to the vehicle, a description of the damage, and whether the doors were locked.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed such that in a case where theadd button4770 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends information entered in the vehicles involvedpage4700 to theweb server310, and theweb server310 is programmed to generate one or more commands to cause thefirst SQL server340A to store the information into a database in association with other information related to the incident. Also, in various embodiments, in a case where theadd button4770 is pressed, the vehicles involvedpage4700 is updated to show information about the added vehicle in the vehicles involvedlist4780. In some embodiments, each time a new vehicle is added for an incident, information for the new vehicle is added to the vehicles involvedlist4780, which shows a list of the vehicles involved in the incident. In various embodiments, the vehicles involvedlist4780 shows, for each vehicle involved in the incident, a license plate number of the vehicle, a state of registration of the vehicle, a manufacturer or make of the vehicle, and a model of the vehicle.

FIG. 47 illustrates an example in which a manufacturer is being selected for a vehicle in the vehicles involvedpage4700. The manufacturer of a vehicle is also known as the make of the vehicle. As illustrated inFIG. 47, in various embodiments thevehicle ID section4720 includes amanufacturer section4722 for receiving input that specifies a make of the vehicle. In various embodiments, themanufacturer section4722 includes a drop-down list, or the like, with manufacturer names, such as Acura, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Ford, and the like. In such embodiments, a make of the vehicle being added may be selected from the drop-down list.

FIG. 48 illustrates a vehicles involvedpage4800 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a model of a vehicle. As illustrated inFIG. 48, in various embodiments thevehicle ID section4720 of thevehicle details section4710 includes amodel section4824 for receiving input that specifies a model of the vehicle. In various embodiments, themodel section4824 includes a drop-down list, or the like, with available models to select that are based on a make specified in themanufacturer section4722. For instance, in the example provided inFIG. 48, a make of a vehicle has been selected in themanufacturer section4722 as “BMW”, and the available models in themodel section4824 include models of BMW vehicles, such as “318”, “320”, “325”, “520”, “525”, “735”, and “Z3”.

FIG. 49 illustrates a vehicles involvedpage4900 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of a type of a vehicle. In various embodiments, thevehicle type section4730 of thevehicle details section4710 includes a vehicle type drop-down list4932 for receiving input that specifies a type of the vehicle, such as economy car, electric vehicle, full size van, golf cart, heavy truck, light truck, limousine, minivan, or the like. In some embodiments, the type of the vehicle is automatically determined based on the make and model of the vehicle specified in thevehicle details section4710.

FIG. 50 illustrates a vehicles involvedpage5000 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a selection of one or more exterior colors of a vehicle. In various embodiments, thecolors section4740 of thevehicle details section4710 includes a color pop-upmenu button5010 that when pressed provides an exterior color pop-upmenu5020 for receiving input that specifies one or more exterior colors of the vehicle, such as black, blue, brown, green, grey, red, and yellow.

FIG. 51 illustrates a vehicles involvedpage5100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows an identification of a vehicle as being of interest. The vehicles involvedpage5100 ofFIG. 51 is similar to the vehicles involvedpage4700 ofFIG. 47. With reference toFIGS. 3, 47, and 51, in various embodiments, in a case where at least one of a license plate number, a VIN number, a make, a model, and an owner name is entered in thevehicle details section4710 and theadd button4770 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends the at least one of the license plate number, the VIN number, the make, the model, and the owner name to theweb server310.

In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to generate a SQL query to send to thefirst SQL server340A to determine whether or not a vehicle with a same license plate number as a license plate number of a vehicle being added in the vehicles involvedpage4700 is already associated with one or more other incidents. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to identify the vehicle being added as being a vehicle of interest in a case where it is determined that a vehicle with a same license plate number as a license plate number of the vehicle being added is already associated with one or more other incidents. In some embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to check for both a same license plate number and a same state of registration to determine whether a vehicle is of interest. Also, in some embodiments, the one or more other incidents are one or more other incidents that occurred at a same facility as a facility where the incident involving the vehicle being added occurred.

In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to generate a SQL query to send to thefirst SQL server340A to determine whether or not a vehicle with a same VIN number as a VIN number of a vehicle being added in the vehicles involvedpage4700 is already associated with one or more other incidents. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to identify the vehicle being added as being a vehicle of interest in a case where it is determined that a vehicle with a same VIN number as a VIN number of the vehicle being added is already associated with one or more other incidents. In some embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to check for both a same VIN number and a same license plate number to determine whether a vehicle is of interest. Also, in some embodiments, the one or more other incidents are one or more other incidents that occurred at a same facility as a facility where the incident involving the vehicle being added occurred.

In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to generate a SQL query to send to thefirst SQL server340A to determine whether or not a vehicle with a same make and model as a make and model of a vehicle being added in the vehicles involvedpage4700 is already associated with one or more other incidents. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to identify the vehicle being added as being a vehicle of interest in a case where it is determined that a vehicle with a same make and model as a make and model of the vehicle being added is already associated with one or more other incidents. In some embodiments, the one or more other incidents are one or more other incidents that occurred at a same facility as a facility where the incident involving the vehicle being added occurred. Also, in some embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to determine whether at least “m” other vehicles with a same make and model as the make and model of the vehicle being added have already been associated with other incidents, and to identify the vehicle being added as being of interest in a case where it is determined that there have been at least “m” such other vehicles, where “m” may be set to any desired integer value.

In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to generate a SQL query to send to thefirst SQL server340A to determine whether or not a vehicle with a same owner as an owner of a vehicle being added in the vehicles involvedpage4700 is already associated with one or more other incidents. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to identify the vehicle being added as being a vehicle of interest in a case where it is determined that a vehicle with a same owner as an owner of the vehicle being added is already associated with one or more other incidents. In some embodiments, the one or more other incidents are one or more other incidents that occurred at a same facility as a facility where the incident involving the vehicle being added occurred.

In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed such that in a case where the vehicle being added is identified as being a vehicle of interest, theweb server310 causes theclient computer321 to display a warning, such as awarning message5120, on a display screen of a display of theclient computer321, such as a display screen of thedisplay160 of thecomputer100 ofFIG. 1. Also, in such embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to display the warning, such as thewarning message5120 on the display screen.

For instance, in the example illustrated inFIG. 51, a vehicle with a make of “BMW” and a model of “318” is specified as a vehicle involved in an incident at a facility and theadd button4770 or asave button5110 has been pressed to add the vehicle as being involved in the incident. Also, in the example illustrated inFIG. 51, when theadd button4770 is pressed, it is automatically determined whether or not the make of “BMW” and the model of “318” already exist with respect to vehicles involved in one or more other incidents, and the vehicle being added is automatically identified as being of interest because the make of “BMW” and model of “318” already exist with respect to one or more other incidents. Moreover, in the example illustrated inFIG. 51, thewarning message5120 is automatically displayed to warn a user that another vehicle with a same make and model as the vehicle being added already exists in the system.

In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to determine how many times vehicles of a same make, a same model, a same type, having a same license plate, having a same VIN number, and/or having a same owner as a currently added vehicle in the vehicles involvedpage5100 have been involved in incidents at the facility within a specified date range. In such embodiments, theweb server310 may be programmed to make such a determination by generating one or more SQL queries to send to thefirst SQL server340A to retrieve such information, and theweb server310 may be programmed to send the information to theclient computer321. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to display information related to how many times vehicles of a same make, a same model, a same type, having a same license plate, having a same VIN number, and/or having a same owner as a currently added vehicle in the vehicles involvedpage5100 have been involved in incidents at the facility within the specified date range.

Thus, various embodiments allow for receiving input that specifies a vehicle involved in an incident at a facility and for identifying the vehicle as being of interest in a case where the vehicle has been involved in one or more other incidents at the facility. Also, various embodiments allow for displaying a warning on a display screen in a case where the vehicle is identified as being of interest. Moreover, various embodiments allow for displaying information relating to how many times vehicles of a same make, a same model, a same type, having a same license plate, having a same VIN number, and/or having a same owner as a currently added vehicle have been involved in incidents within a specified date range.

FIG. 52 illustrates aparking violation page5200 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for receiving input that specifies information about a parking violation. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and 52, in various embodiments theincident page500 includes a parking violation button (not shown), and in a case where theclient computer321 receives input in which the parking violation button (not shown) of theincident page500 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends a request to theweb server310 for theparking violation page5200 to specify a parking violation related to an incident that is currently displayed in theincident page500 when the parking violation button (not shown) is pressed. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to provide theparking violation page5200 in response to the request from theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display theparking violation page5200.

In various embodiments, theparking violation page5200 for an incident at a facility includes alocation name section5211, aDR number section5212, a reported bysection5213, a reported onsection5214, aticket number section5221, aviolation location section5222, adate section5223, atime section5224, aviolation section5230, avehicle section5240, and asave button5250. In various embodiments, thelocation name section5211 includes a text box, a drop-down list, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a name of a facility where the parking violation occurred. In various embodiments, theDR number section5212 includes a text box, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a code for the parking violation. In various embodiments, the reported bysection5213 includes a text box, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a name of a person that reported the parking violation. In various embodiments, the reported onsection5214 includes a text box, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a date on which the parking violation was reported.

In various embodiments, theticket number section5221 includes a text box, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a ticket number for the parking violation. In various embodiments, theviolation location section5222 includes a text box, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a more specific location at the facility where the parking violation occurred. In various embodiments, thedate section5223 includes a text box, a drop-down menu, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a date on which the parking violation occurred. In various embodiments, thetime section5224 includes a text box, a scrollable time field, or the like, for receiving input that specifies a time of day at which the parking violation occurred.

In various embodiments, theviolation section5230 includes one or more text boxes, check boxes, or the like, for receiving input that specifies one or more violations that were committed for the parking violation, such as vehicle has no valid parking permit, parked in a disabled person's space/area, parked in a no parking space/area, parked in a reserved or designated space/area, parked in two spaces, blocking driveway or access, and other. In various embodiments, thevehicle section5240 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down lists, or the like, for receiving input that specifies information about a vehicle involved in the parking violation, such as parking permit number, other ID or associate number, make and model of the vehicle, approximate year of the vehicle, color of the vehicle, license tag or plate number, state of registration, VIN number of the vehicle, and driver's name. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 52, in various embodiments thesave button5250 may be pressed to send information entered in theparking violation page5200 from theclient computer321 to theweb server310 to have theweb server310 cause the information to be stored in a database in thefirst SQL server340A.

FIG. 53 illustrates aviolation search page5300 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for searching for parking violations. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and 53, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to send theviolation search page5300 to theclient computer321 in a case where a violation search button (not shown) of theincident page500 is clicked by a user. In various embodiments, theviolation search page5300 includes alocation name section5312, aticket number section5314, aviolation type section5320, a search byincident date section5330, avehicle search section5340, asearch button5350, a violations foundlist5360, and arepeat offenders button5370.

In various embodiments, thelocation name section5312 includes a text box, a drop-down list, or the like, for specifying a facility for which to search for related parking violations. In various embodiments, in a case where a name of a facility is specified in thelocation name section5312 and a search is performed, the search results provides parking violations that occurred at the facility.

In various embodiments, theticket number section5314 includes a text box, or the like, for specifying a ticket number for searching for one or more parking violations. In various embodiments, in a case where a ticket number is specified in theticket number section5314 and a search is performed, the search results provides parking violations that are associated with the ticket number. In some embodiments, a partial ticket number may be entered in theticket number section5314 to search for all parking violations associated with ticket numbers that have portions that match the partial ticket number.

In various embodiments, theviolation type section5320 includes one or more text boxes, check boxes, or the like, for specifying one or more violation types for searching for parking violations. For example, in various embodiments, theviolation type section5320 may include check boxes for the following violation types: (i) vehicle has no valid parking permit; (ii) parked in a disabled person's space/area; (iii) parked in no parking space/area; (iv) parked in reserved or designated space/area; (v) parked in two spaces; (vi) blocking driveway or access; and (vii) other. Also, in various embodiments, theviolations type section5320 may include a text box for specifying text in a comment with which to search for parking violations. In various embodiments, in a case where one or more violation types are specified in theviolation type section5320 and a search is performed, the search results provides parking violations that are associated with the one or more violation types.

In various embodiments, the search byincident date section5330 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down lists, buttons, or the like, for specifying a date range within which to search for parking violations. For example, in various embodiments, the search byincident date section5330 includes a “From Date” field for specifying a starting date for a date range, and a “To Date” field for specifying an ending date for the date range. In some embodiments, the search byincident date section5330 includes buttons with pre-set date ranges, such as “today”, “last 7 days”, “last 30 days”, and “last 90 days”. In various embodiments, in a case where a date range is specified in the search byincident date section5330 and a search is performed, the search results provides parking violations that occurred within the date range.

In various embodiments, thevehicle search section5340 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down lists, or the like, for specifying information about one or more vehicles to search for parking violations. For example, in various embodiments, thevehicle search section5340 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down lists, or the like, for specifying a make and model, a license plate number, a state of registration, a VIN number, years of manufacture, and a driver name. In various embodiments, in a case where vehicle information is specified in thevehicle search section5340 and a search is performed, the search results provides parking violations that are associated with the specified vehicle information. In some embodiments, a partial make or model, a partial license plate number, a partial VIN number, and/or a partial drive name may be entered in thevehicle search section5340 to perform a search.

It should be appreciated that, in various embodiments, one or more sections of theviolation search page5300 may be filled-out for a search. For example, a search may be performed for a location and within a specified date range. Also, for example, a search may be performed for parking violations that occurred at a particular facility and that are of a particular type. Thus, in some embodiments, various combinations of fields in theviolation search page5300 may be filled-out for a single search.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed such that theclient computer321 sends search information entered in the fields of theviolation search page5300 to theweb server310 in a case where thesearch button5350 is pressed. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed such that theweb server310 generates one or more SQL queries to send to thefirst SQL server340A based on the search information received from theclient computer321. In various embodiments, thefirst SQL server340A is programmed to search a database based on the one or more SQL queries received from theweb server310 and to provide search results to theweb server310 in response to the one or more SQL queries. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to send the search results to theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display a list of the search results in the violations foundlist5360 of theviolation search page5300.

In various embodiments, the violations foundlist5360 provides, for each parking violation search result, a location name of a facility where the parking violation occurred, a violation date, a ticket number, a violation type, a year of the vehicle involved in the violation, a make and model of the vehicle, a license plate number of the vehicle, a state of registration of the vehicle, and a name of a person who reported the parking violation. In other embodiments, more or fewer fields may be shown in the violations foundlist5360. In various embodiments, in a case where therepeat offenders button5370 is pressed, a pop-up window such as is shown inFIG. 54 is displayed to allow for searching for repeat vehicle parking violation offenders.

FIG. 54 illustrates aviolation search page5400 with a repeat vehicleviolation offenders window5420 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for searching for repeat vehicle parking violation offenders. Theviolation search page5400 ofFIG. 54 is similar to theviolation search page5300 ofFIG. 53, and theviolation search page5400 includes therepeat offenders button5370. In various embodiments, in a case where therepeat offenders button5370 is pressed, the repeat vehicleviolation offenders window5420 is displayed on a display screen to allow for searching for repeat vehicle parking violation offenders. In various embodiments, the repeat vehicleviolation offenders window5420 includes areport criteria section5430, a number ofviolations section5440, and areport button5450.

In various embodiments, thereport criteria section5430 includes alocation name section5432, a search bylicense plate section5434, and a search byVIN number section5436. In various embodiments, thelocation name section5432 includes a text box, a drop-down list, or the like, for specifying a location name of a facility. In various embodiments, in a case where a name of a facility is specified in thelocation name section5432 and a repeat offender report is generated, the report results provides repeat offender parking violations that occurred at the facility.

In various embodiments, the search bylicense plate section5434 includes one or more radio buttons, text boxes, or the like, to specify license plate information to search for repeat parking violation offenders, such as searching for all license plates, searching based on an entire license plate number, or searching based on a partial license plate number. In various embodiments, in a case where information is provided in the search bylicense plate section5434 and a repeat offender report is generated, the report results provides repeat offender parking violations for vehicles that match the information provided in the search bylicense plate section5434.

In various embodiments, the search byVIN number section5436 includes one or more radio buttons, text boxes, or the like, to specify VIN number information to search for repeat parking violation offenders, such as searching for all VIN numbers, searching based on an entire VIN number, or searching based on a partial VIN number. In various embodiments, in a case where information is provided in the search byVIN number section5436 and a repeat offender report is generated, the report results provides repeat offender parking violations for vehicles that match the information provided in the search byVIN number section5436.

In various embodiments, the number ofviolations section5440 includes a text box, a drop-down list, or the like, for specifying a number of parking violations for which vehicles must have been involved in to be included on a generated repeat offender report. In various embodiments, the number of violations specified in the number ofviolations section5440 may be two or greater.

With reference toFIGS. 3 and 54, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed such that theclient computer321 sends search information entered in the fields of the repeat vehicleviolation offenders window5420 to theweb server310 in a case where thereport button5450 is pressed. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed such that theweb server310 generates one or more SQL queries to send to thefirst SQL server340A based on the search information received from theclient computer321. In various embodiments, thefirst SQL server340A is programmed to search a database based on the one or more SQL queries received from theweb server310 and to provide report results to theweb server310 in response to the one or more SQL queries. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to send the report results to theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display a report with the report results to show the search results for repeat vehicle parking violation offenders.

FIG. 55 illustrates anincident attachments page5500 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for receiving input that specifies file attachments to be associated with an incident. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and 55, in various embodiments, in a case where theclient computer321 receives input in which theattachments button520 of theincident page500 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends a request to theweb server310 for theincident attachments page5500 to specify attachments to be associated with an incident that is currently displayed in theincident page500 when theattachments button520 is pressed. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to provide theincident attachments page5500 in response to the request from theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display theincident attachments page5500.

In various embodiments, theincident attachments page5500 for an incident includes anattachments section5510. In various embodiments, theattachments section5510 includes one or more fields for specifying one or more file attachments to be associated with the incident. In various embodiments, the file attachments may include text files, video files, picture or photo files, sound files, or the like. In various embodiments, theattachments section5510 includes, for each attachment, one or more text boxes, or the like, for specifying a file path and name for the file attachment, a description of the attachment, and a file type of the attachment.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed such that in a case where a save button associated with an attachment on theincident attachments page5500 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends the attachment and corresponding description and file type information to theweb server310, and theweb server310 is programmed to generate one or more commands to cause thefirst SQL server340A to store the attachment, description, and file type information into a database in association with other information related to the incident. Thus, various embodiments allow for receiving input that specifies at least one of a photo, a video, and a sound associated with an incident.

FIG. 56 illustrates an incident picturespage5600 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for receiving input that specifies pictures to be associated with an incident. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and 56, in various embodiments, in a case where theclient computer321 receives input in which thepictures button519 of theincident page500 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends a request to theweb server310 for the incident picturespage5600 to specify attachments to be associated with an incident that is currently displayed in theincident page500 when thepictures button519 is pressed. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to provide the incident picturespage5600 in response to the request from theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display the incident picturespage5600.

In various embodiments, the incident picturespage5600 for an incident includes aload picture button5610, anincident photos section5620, a selectedpicture section5630, and a selectedpicture information section5640. In various embodiments, in a case where theload picture button5610 is pressed, a picture may be loaded from a file path, and may be sent from theclient computer321 to theweb server310 to be stored in thefirst SQL server340A in association with other information related to the incident. Also, in various embodiments, when a picture file is loaded with theload picture button5610, the picture is displayed in one or more photo sections, such as

photo sections

5621 and5622, of theincident photos section5620.

In various embodiments, in a case where a photo in theincident photos section5620 is highlighted by a mouse click, a keyboard command, or the like, the photo is shown in the selectedpicture section5630, and information about the photo may be entered in the selectedpicture information section5640. In various embodiments, the selectedpicture information section5640 includes one or more text boxes, radio buttons, drop-down lists, or the like, for specifying information about the selected picture in the selectedpicture section5630, such as who the picture was taken by, a date the picture was taken, a time of day the picture was taken, a camera type of a camera that took the picture, a distance from the camera to a principal object in the picture at the time the picture was taken, a picture description, whether lighting for the picture was natural or artificial, whether or not a flash was used in taking the picture, and whether or not information for the photo should be copied from information already entered for another photo.

In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed such that in a case where a save button of the selectedpicture information section5640 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends the information entered in the selectedpicture information section5640 to theweb server310, and theweb server310 is programmed to generate one or more commands to cause thefirst SQL server340A to store the information into a database in association with other information related to the incident.

FIG. 57 illustrates apicture enlargement window5700 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for enlarging a photograph. With reference toFIGS. 3, 56 and 57, in various embodiment, in a case where the selected picture in the selectedpicture section5630 is double-clicked, or the like, theclient computer321 displays thepicture enlargement window5700 with anenlarged picture5710 of the selected picture. In various embodiments, thepicture enlargement window5700 includes a zoom-inbutton5722 for zooming in on theenlarged picture5710, and also includes a zoom-out button5724 for zooming-out on theenlarged picture5710. Also, in various embodiments, theenlarged picture5710 may be clicked on and dragged with a mouse, a touch-pad, or the like, to re-center theenlarged picture5710.

FIG. 58 illustrates anincident page5800 with an injuredperson selection window5820 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for receiving input that describes an injured person. Theincident page5800 ofFIG. 58 is similar to theincident page500 ofFIG. 5. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 58, in various embodiments, in a case where theclient computer321 receives input in which an injury is specified in aninjuries section5810 of theincident page5800 for an incident, theclient computer321 sends a request to theweb server310 for the injuredperson selection window5820 to provide input that describes an injured person in the incident. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to provide the injuredperson selection window5820 in response to the request from theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display the injuredperson selection window5820.

In various embodiments, the injuredperson selection window5820 for an incident includes an injuredperson type section5822. In various embodiments, the injuredperson type section5822 includes check boxes, or the like, for describing a type of the injured person, such as security employee, client employee (management, engineer, etc.), client's contractor (parking attendant, cleaning crew, etc.), shopper, visitor, customer, and other. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed such that in a case where an “ok” button of the injuredperson selection window5820 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends the injured person type information entered in the injuredperson selection window5820 to theweb server310, and theweb server310 is programmed to generate one or more commands to cause thefirst SQL server340A to store the injured person type information into a database in association with other information related to the incident. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 or theweb server310 may be programmed to send information to an insurance company computer, or the like, over a network to alert an insurance company about an injury based on the injured person type information entered in the injuredperson selection window5820.

FIG. 59 illustrates apolice report page5900 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for receiving input that specifies police report information about an incident. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and 59, in various embodiments theincident page500 includes apolice report button518, and in a case where theclient computer321 receives input in which thepolice report button518 of theincident page500 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends a request to theweb server310 for thepolice report page5900 to specify police report information related to an incident that is currently displayed in theincident page500 when thepolice report button518 is pressed. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to provide thepolice report page5900 in response to the request from theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display thepolice report page5900.

In various embodiments, thepolice report page5900 for an incident at a facility includes a policereport information section5910. In various embodiments, the policereport information section5910 includes a reported topolice section5920, a police arrival toscene section5930, and apolice information section5940. In various embodiments, the reported topolice section5920 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down lists, or the like, for specifying a date and a time at which the incident was reported to the police. In various embodiments, the police arrival toscene section5930 includes one or more text boxes, drop-down lists, or the like, for specifying a date and a time that police arrived to a scene of the incident.

In various embodiments, thepolice information section5940 includes one or more text boxes, or the like, for specifying information about the police responding to the incident, such as a name of a police officer to which the incident was reported, an officer ID such as a badge number of the police officer, a name of a police department from which the police officer arrived, a police report number assigned to the incident, and other notes. In some embodiments, theclient computer321 or theweb server310 sends a request to a state or federal database, or the like, to obtain or check information about a police officer. In various embodiments a save button of thepolice report page5900 may be pressed to send information entered in thepolice report page5900 from theclient computer321 to theweb server310 to have theweb server310 cause the information to be stored in a database in thefirst SQL server340A in association with other information related to the incident.

FIG. 60 illustrates asend message page6000 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for sending a message to a user. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and 60, in various embodiments theincident page500 includes amessages button571, and in a case where theclient computer321 receives input in which themessages button571 of theincident page500 is pressed, theclient computer321 sends a request to theweb server310 for thesend message page6000 to specify information to send a message to a user. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to provide thesend message page6000 in response to the request from theclient computer321, and theclient computer321 is programmed to display thesend message page6000.

In various embodiments, thesend message page6000 includes aselect recipients section6010, aselect location section6020, a setmessage priority section6030, anexpiration date section6040, asend options section6050, ane-mail subject section6060, amessage body section6070, and asend button6080. In various embodiments, theselect recipients section6010 includes one or more drop-down lists, check boxes, or the like, for specifying information about one or more recipients of a message, such as a customer for which the recipient works, and a name of the recipient. In various embodiments, theselect location section6020 includes a drop-down list, or the like, for specifying a location name of a facility to which the message relates. Also, in various embodiments, theselect location section6020 includes aselect incident section6022 that includes a drop-down list, or the like, to select an incident ID of an incident to which the message relates.

In various embodiments, the setmessage priority section6030 includes a drop-down list, or the like, for specifying a priority of the message, such as low, medium, or high. In various embodiments, theexpiration date section6040 includes a text box, a drop-down calendar, or the like, for specifying an expiration date for the message. In various embodiments, thesend options section6050 includes one or more check boxes, or the like, for specifying options for the message, such as whether the message should be sent within the incident report system to the recipient and whether the message should be sent to an e-mail address of the recipient. In various embodiments, thee-mail subject section6060 includes a text box, or the like, for specifying a subject for the message. In various embodiment, themessage body section6070 includes a text box, or the like, for providing text for a message body of the message.

In various embodiments, in a case where thesend button6080 is pressed, the message is formed with a subject specified by thee-mail subject section6060 and a body specified by themessage body section6070, and is transmitted to the one or more recipients specified in theselect recipients section6010. In various embodiments, the message is sent to the one or more recipients through the incident reporting system in a case where an incident report system check box of thesend options section6050 is checked. Also, in various embodiments, the message is sent to the one or more recipients by e-mail in a case where an e-mail check box of thesend options section6050 is checked.

In various embodiments, one or more recipients may be associated with a facility, and a message may be automatically sent to the one or more recipients in a case where a person has been identified as a person of interest due to one or more incidents at the facility. In various embodiments, one or more recipients may be associated with a facility, and a message may be automatically sent to the one or more recipients in a case where an item has been identified as an item of interest due to one or more incidents at the facility. Also, in various embodiments, one or more recipients may be associated with a facility, and a message may be automatically sent to the one or more recipients in a case where a vehicle has been identified as a vehicle of interest due to one or more incidents at the facility.

FIG. 61 illustrates ane-mail application window6100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows a reception of a message sent from thesend message page6000 ofFIG. 60. In various embodiments, thee-mail application window6100 includes amessage overview section6110 that shows information about a message, such as who the message is from, a subject of the message, when the message was received, and a size of the message. In various embodiments, thee-mail application window6100 also includes amessage body section6120 for showing the text of the message body.

FIG. 62 illustrates anincident page6200 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that shows an incident that has been submitted and that has amendments. Theincident page6200 ofFIG. 62 is similar to theincident page500 ofFIG. 5. In various embodiments, a check mark orother icon6210 is placed next to each button for a section, such as the incident map section, the details section, and the like, when the section has been completed. Also, in various embodiments, when a submitbutton6220 of theincident page6200 is pressed, the information entered for the incident is locked from modification from at least some users, as indicated by apadlock icon6230 that may appear next to the submitbutton6220 once the submitbutton6220 has been pressed. In some embodiments, only system administrators or other privileged users may be able to unlock a submitted incident.

In various embodiments, once an incident has been submitted, anamendments button6240 is provided on theincident page6200 to allow for making amendments to the incident. For example, if additional information is gathered regarding the incident after the incident has been submitted, the additional information may be specified in an amendment by pressing theamendments button6240 and entering the additional information. Also, in various embodiments, theincident page6200 includes asubmission information section6250 that provides submission information, such as when the incident was submitted and a name of a user who submitted the incident.

FIG. 63 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that can be performed by one or more computers. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 63, in S10 subscription requests are received from users that each identify one or more main categories of incidents for which notifications are requested to be received by a corresponding user. For example, a user may enter a subscription request into theclient computer321 to indicate that the user would like to receive notifications when information for incidents related to certain specified main categories are received by theweb server310. As an example, a subscription request may specify main categories such as assault, battery, theft, vandalism, or the like. In various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to send the subscription request to theweb server310, and theweb server310 is programmed to receive the subscription request transmitted from theclient computer321.

In various embodiments, each user is only able to receive notifications related to incidents that have occurred at one or more facilities with which the user has been associated. In some embodiments, a subscription request may further specify a particular one or more facilities, such that the corresponding user is only notified of incidents related to the subscribed to main categories that occurred at any of the particular one or more facilities. Also, in some embodiments, a subscription request may further specify one or more sub-categories within the main category, such that the corresponding user is only notified of incidents related to the subscribed to main categories that are also associated with the subscribed to one or more sub-categories within the corresponding main category. In various embodiments, a subscription request may further specify one or more secondary main categories, such that the corresponding user is only notified of incidents related to the subscribed to main categories that are also associated with the subscribed to one or more secondary main categories. In some embodiments, a subscription request may specify various types of parameters, such as one or more of an incident date, an incident time, a location name, a level/zone, a location code, an indication of injuries, a person involved, a vehicle involved, an item involved, a nearest tenant, or the like, to indicate that notifications are desired for incidents related to one or more of the specified parameters.

In various embodiments, once theweb server310 has received one or more subscription requests, the method continues to S11. In S11, users are associated with main categories or other parameters to which the users have subscribed based at least partially on the one or more subscription requests that have been received, so as to provide information about user category subscriptions. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to generate requests to thefirst SQL server340A to associate user profiles with main categories to indicate which users should receive notifications of incidents that are related to which types of main categories. In various embodiments, the user category subscriptions indicate which main categories have been associated with each user based on received subscription requests. In some embodiments, the method then continues to S12.

In S12, input is received that specifies an incident at a facility including a main category that applies to the incident. Examples of the reception of such input have been described above with reference toFIGS. 3, 5-12, 16, 17, 38, 39, 42-45, 47-50, 52, 55, 56, 58, and 59. With reference toFIGS. 3, 5, and 6, in various embodiments, theclient computer321 is programmed to receive input that specifies a new incident at a facility through entries in the newincident addition page600. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to receive input that specifies the new incident at the facility from theclient computer321 by receiving the input from theclient computer321 once theclient computer321 receives the input in the newincident addition page600 and asave button610 is pressed. In some embodiments, theweb server310 may be programmed to send new incident information received from theclient computer321 to thefirst SQL server340A to be stored in a database in thefirst SQL server340A in association with an incident ID assigned to the new incident. The newincident addition page600 may include themain category section543 for selecting a main category for the new incident. In various embodiments, themain category section543 includes a drop-down list, or the like, with available categories to select for the main category of a new incident. Referring again toFIGS. 3 and 63, in various embodiments the method then continues to S13.

In S13, one or more users that are to be notified of the incident are determined based at least partially on the main category of the incident and the information about the user category subscriptions. For example, in some embodiments, each user that has subscribed to receive notifications of incidents related to the main category of the currently input incident are determined as users that are to be notified of the incident. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to generate a query to determine all users that have submitted subscription requests for the main category of the currently input incident and to submit the query to thefirst SQL server340A. Also, in various embodiments, thefirst SQL server340A is configured to determine one or more users that have subscribed to receive notifications of incidents that are related to the main category specified in the query from theweb server310, and to return a list of address information for one or more devices associated with the one or more users that are to be notified of the incident. In various embodiments, the method then continues to S14.

In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to generate an e-mail message as a notification of an incident, where the e-mail message includes a link that provides access to more information concerning the incident. The link may comprise, for example, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) or the like. In some embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to send a query to thefirst SQL server340A to obtain at least some information concerning the incident, and to include the information in the notification as a summary of the incident. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to send the notification to the one or more devices associated with the one or more users that are to be notified of the incident. The one or more devices may include, but are not limited to, a computer, a cellular phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), or the like. In various embodiments, each of the one or more devices is associated with an address, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address or the like, and theweb server310 is programmed to transmit the notification to each address.

FIG. 64 illustrates an example of anotification6400 of an incident at a facility in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Thenotification6400 may comprise, for example, an e-mail message or the like. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 64, in various embodiments, asubject6410 of thenotification6400 may be automatically generated by theweb server310 to include information such as an incident ID of the incident, a name of a facility at which the incident occurred, a main category associated with the incident, and the like. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 may be programmed to provide asummary6420 of the incident in a body portion of thenotification6400, where thesummary6420 may include information about the incident such as an incident ID of the incident, a name of a facility at which the incident occurred, a main category associated with the incident, a sub-category within the main category associated with the incident, a secondary main category associated with the incident, an incident date of the incident, a short description of the incident, or the like.

In various embodiments, thenotification6400 includes alink6430, such as a URL, a URI, or the like. In some embodiments, thelink6430 may be activated by, for example, clicking on the link, pressing certain keys, touching the link on a touch screen, or the like. In various embodiments, once thelink6430 is activated at a device of an end user, theweb server310 provides more information concerning the incident to the device. For example, activation of thelink6430 in thenotification6400 by a device may cause theweb server310 to send an incident web page, such as theincident page500 ofFIG. 5 or the like, to the device that includes access to further information about the incident. In some embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to determine whether a user associated with a device that activated thelink6430 is already logged-in to receive incident information, and in a case where the user is not already logged-in, theweb server310 may provide a log-in page, such as the log-inpage400 ofFIG. 4 or the like, to the device to force the user to log-in before providing the additional information concerning the incident. In such embodiments, upon the user logging-in, theweb server310 may automatically provide additional information concerning the incident that is identified by thelink6430 to the device of the user.

With reference again toFIG. 63, in various embodiments the method then ends in S15. Thus, various embodiments allow for system notifications, where users are able to subscribe to receive notifications for types of incidents for which they desire to be notified. For example, a user may desire to be notified of all incidents at a facility that involve vehicle injuries, and may subscribe to receive notifications of such incidents. Then, when such incidents occur at a facility, the user may be automatically and instantly notified of the incident on a device associated with the user. In various embodiments, the notification may include a link that when activated provides the user with direct access to more information concerning the incident. Also, in various embodiments, the notification may include a summary of the incident.

In some embodiments, if an incident date associated with an incident is over a certain number of days old when entered, then the notification of the users subscribed to a main category associated with the incident may be skipped. For example, in various embodiments, if an incident date for an entered incident is more than 3 days prior to a current date when the incident information for the incident is entered, then a notification of users may be skipped so that users need not be instantly notified of older incidents. In some embodiments, if an incident date of an incident indicates that the incident is already more than a certain number of days old when entered, then a confirmation box may be presented to a user entering the incident information to confirm that the incident date of the incident is correct. For example, if an incident date for an entered incident is more than 7 days prior to a current date when the incident information for the incident is entered, then a confirmation box may be presented to have a user confirm that the incident date is correct. In some embodiments, another level of verification may be required for really old incidents that are currently being entered. For example, if an incident date for an entered incident is more than 100 days prior to a current date when the incident information for the incident is entered, then a message may be displayed to inform a user of the situation before allowing further information related to the incident to be input.

FIG. 65 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that can be performed by one or more computers. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 65, in S20 it is determined whether a response is received from a first contact individual of one or more users that have been notified of an incident within a time period after a notification has been provided to a device associated with the first contact individual. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to provide the notification of the incident to the device associated with the first contact individual and then to start a timer that counts for a specified amount of time. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to determine whether a response is received from the first contact individual, such as the clicking of a link, the accessing of a web-page, the sending of a reply e-mail or text message, the placement of a telephone call to a security center, or the like, before the timer times-out. In various embodiments, the method then continues to S21.

In S21, a separate notification is provided to a device associated with a second contact individual in a case where it is determined that the response was not received from the first contact individual within the time period. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to provide the separate notification to the device associated with the second contact individual when the response is not received from the first contact individual within the specified amount of time. In some embodiments, the first contact individual and the second contact individual may be selected based on, for example, a facility at which the incident occurred, a main category associated with the incident, or the like. In some embodiments, the method is repeated, such as by waiting for a response from the second contact individual, and then notifying a third contact individual if no response is received from the second contact individual within a given time period, and so on until a response is received from at least one contact individual within a chain of command. Thus, for example, in various embodiments a general manager of a facility may be notified of an incident at the facility and it may be determined whether the general manager responds to the notification within a time period and, if no response is received from the general manager within the time period, a head of security may be notified of the incident, and so on until a response is received from a contact individual within a chain of command. The method may then end in S22.

FIG. 66 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that can be performed by one or more computers. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 66, in S30 it is determined whether an incident for which input has been received is a high liability incident based at least partially on the input related to the incident that is received and a set of liability criteria. The liability criteria may specify, for example, that an incident is a high liability incident if a client employee has been injured, if a shopper or visitor has been injured, if there has been a police report for the incident, if there has been damage to a vehicle, if there has been damage to an item, or the like. In various embodiments, the liability criteria is settable to any desired criteria related to obtained incident information. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to receive the input related to the incident from theclient computer321 and to determine whether the incident is a high liability incident based at least partially on the input and a set of liability criteria. In various embodiments, the method then continues to S31.

In S31, an insurance company is automatically notified of the incident in a case where it is determined that the incident is a potential high liability incident. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to send a notification to a device of the insurance company, such as a computer of the insurance company, in a case where it is determined that the incident is a potential high liability incident. In various embodiments, theweb server310 may be further programmed to receive a response from the computer of the insurance company that specifies insurance information related to the incident, such as an insurance ID related to the incident, names of one or more insurance case workers assigned to the incident, an amount of money awarded as payment from insurance for the incident, or the like. Also, in various embodiments, theweb server310 may be programmed to cause thefirst SQL server340A to store the insurance information related to the incident received from the computer of the insurance company into a database in correspondence with information related to the incident. The method may then end in S32.

FIG. 67 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that can be performed by one or more computers. In S40, an extensible markup language (XML) document is formed with tags and content based at least partially on information stored in a database. In various embodiments, the XML document is formed to include at least one start-tag and at least one end-tag that correspond to a field in the database for which data is needed or desired. Also, in various embodiments, the XML document is further formed to include at least one identifier between the at least one start-tag and the at least one end-tag to indicate that data is needed for the field. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 67, in some embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to form the XML document based at least partially on information about an incident stored in thefirst SQL server340A.

FIG. 69 illustrates an example of anXML document6900 that could be formed by the method ofFIG. 67. In various embodiments, theXML document6900 is formed to include adocument type declaration6970 that references a Document Type Definition (DTD) file, which defines a syntax for theXML document6900. For example, in theXML document6900, the DTD file “incident.dtd” is specified as the file that provides the syntax for theXML document6900. In various other embodiments, other schema languages than DTD may be used to specify the syntax of theXML document6900. For example, the XML Schema (XSD) language may be used in various embodiments to express a valid structure of theXML document6900, where the XML Schema language may be used to define constraints such as elements and attributes that must or may be included in theXML document6900 and the structure of the elements.

TheXML document6900 is formed to include various elements that each have a structure of “<name> content </name>”, where the two instance of “name” are a start-tag and an end-tag, respectively, and the “content” is text that may include further elements. In various embodiments, the structure of the elements in theXML document6900 are forced to conform with syntax rules established in the DTD file. Also, in various embodiments, the DTD file specifies start-tags and end-tags for elements based on information that can be stored for incidents in a database. For example, a new incident may be specified by the start-tag “<incident>”, and the end-tag “</incident>”, and content between the <incident> start-tag and the </incident> end-tag may include further elements related to the incident, such as (i) an incident ID element “<incident_id> content </incident_id>” that indicates the incident ID for the incident; (ii) a main category element “<main_category> content </main_category>” that indicates the main category of the incident; (iii) a sub-category element “<sub_category> content </sub_category>” that indicates a sub-category within the main category associated with the incident; (iv) a secondary main category element “<secondary main category> content </secondary_main_category>” that indicates a secondary main category of the incident; (v) a location name element “<location_name> content </location_name>” that indicates a name of a facility where the incident occurred; (vi) a level/zone element “<level_zone> content </level_zone>” that indicates a level or zone within the facility where the incident occurred; (vii) an injuries element “<injuries> content </injuries>” that indicates whether there were any injuries due to the incident; (viii) an incident details element “<incident_details> content </incident_details>” that may have sub-elements to indicate details related to the incident; and (ix) any other elements that may be specified to indicate information related to the incident, such as persons involved, vehicles involved, items involved, police reports, incident images, or the like.

With reference toFIGS. 3 and 69, in various embodiments theweb server310 is programmed to send one or more queries to thefirst SQL server340A to obtain information to fill into an XML document, such as theXML document6900 or the like. TheXML document6900 illustrates an example for an incident with an incident ID number of 228518, where the incident ID number has been inserted into acontent portion6920 of theXML document6900 between a start-tag6910 named <incident_id> and an end-tag6930 named </incident_id>. In theexample XML document6900, the main category of the incident is “Vandalism”, and the sub-category of the incident is “With Major Damage”, which have been inserted as content between the tags of the corresponding elements in theXML document6900.

In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to insert one or more identifiers in an XML document, such as theXML document6900, to indicate that particular data is needed or desired for an incident. For example, in theXML document6900, an identifier of “Need to Add” has been inserted in acontent section6950 between a start-tag6940 named “<reported_by>” and an end-tag6960 named “</reported_by>” to indicate that data for a database field concerning a name of a reporting party is needed for the incident specified in theXML document6900. It should be appreciated that the identifier “Need to Add” is merely provided as an example of one type of identifier, and that various other types of identifiers or character strings may be used as an identifier. In theXML document6900, the identifier “Need to Add” has also been inserted in content sections between start-tags and end-tags of elements corresponding to database fields of acondition1 and acondition2 to indicate that data is needed concerning weather conditions prevailing during the incident. Thus, in various embodiments, an XML document may provide a convenient format to indicate data that is known and stored in a database concerning an incident, and to also indicate data that is needed or desired concerning the incident. With reference again toFIG. 67, in various embodiments the method then continues to S41.

In S41, the XML document is transmitted to a system that is able to provide appropriate data for a database field that has been identified in the XML document as a field for which data is needed. In various embodiments, the XML document is automatically generated and automatically pushed to the system that is able to provide the appropriate data. In various embodiments, the system to which the XML document is transmitted may comprise, for example, an insurance system run by an insurance company, a risk management system, a customer system run by a customer, a security system run by a security company, a loss prevention system run by a loss prevention service, an engineering system run by an engineering company, a maintenance system run by a maintenance company, or the like. Also, in various embodiments, the system to which the XML, document is transmitted may comprise a computer or the like. In some embodiments, the XML document may include a list of attachments, such as photos, videos, or the like related to an incident with links to the attachments.

With reference toFIGS. 3 and 67, in various embodiments theweb server310 is programmed to transmit the XML document to the system (not shown) that is able to provide the appropriate data. The use of XML allows for a transfer of information to be Operating System (OS) independent, because it is based on text. Also, XML allows for data concerning an incident and a description of a meaning of the data to be combined together in a single file with a defined structure. In various embodiments, the system (not shown) to which the XML document is transmitted is configured to store data from the XML document into a database by, for example, storing content from each element in the XML document into a database field that corresponds to the start-tag and the end-tag of the element. Also, in various embodiments, the system (not shown) to which the XML document is transmitted searches for specific identifiers, such as “Need to Add” or the like, in the XML document and replaces each identifier with appropriate data by, for example, retrieving data from a database field that corresponds to a start-tag and an end-tag of the identifier and replacing the identifier with the retrieved data to generate a reply XML document. In various embodiments, the method then continues to S42.

In S42, the reply XML document is received from the system (not shown), where the reply XML document includes the at least one start-tag, the at least one end-tag, and the appropriate data between the at least one start-tag and the at least one end-tag for the database field for which data is needed or desired.FIG. 70 illustrates an example of areply XML document7000 that may be received in reply to theXML document6900 ofFIG. 69. As illustrated in changes between theXML document6900 and thereply XML document7000, the identifier “Need to Add” in theXML document6900 for the element with the start-tag “<reported_by>” has been replaced in theXML document7000 with the name “Abraham Israel” to specify that the incident in the example was reported by a person named “Abraham Israel”. Also, the identifier “Need to Add” in theXML document6900 for the element with the start-tag “<condition_1>” has been replaced in theXML document7000 with the weather condition of “Dark” to specify a first weather condition for the corresponding incident. Similarly, the identifier “Need to Add” in theXML document6900 for the element with the start-tag “<condition_2>” has been replaced in theXML document7000 with the weather condition of “Heavy Winds” to specify a second weather condition for the corresponding incident. With reference again toFIGS. 3 and 67, in various embodiments theweb server310 is programmed to receive the reply XML document. Also, in various embodiments, the method then continues to S43.

In S43, the appropriate data from the reply XML document is stored into the database for the corresponding field. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to extract the appropriate data from the reply XML document from the content portions of the elements where the identifiers were located in the XML document, and theweb server310 is programmed to cause thefirst SQL server340A to store the extracted appropriate data into a database in relation with the incident corresponding to the reply XML document. In various embodiments, the method then ends in S44. Thus, various embodiments allow for an XML document to be formed to include data that is known about an incident and also to include identifiers to request data for the incident. Also, various embodiments allow for transmitting the XML document so as to inform one or more other systems about the data known about the incident, and also allow for receiving a reply XML document with identifiers of the XML document replaced by the data requested for the incident. In some embodiments, the reply XML document may remove some elements from the XML document when forming the reply XML document.

As an example, theweb server310 may generate an XML document with some known data related to an incident and also include identifiers in the XML document to request data related to security information for the incident and then transmit the XML document to a security system (not shown) run by a security company that is able to supply the requested security information. In the example, theweb server310 may then receive a reply XML document from the security system with the identifiers in the XML document replaced by the requested data, so that the requested data could then be stored in the related database fields for the incident. Such security information may include, for example, a security ID for the incident, information about whether the incident was captured on closed-circuit television, a reporting party of the incident, a reporting date and time of the incident, a name of a security officer that arrived to the scene of the incident, a date and time of arrival of the security officer to the scene of the incident, weather conditions of the incident, inspection conditions of a location of the incident, a nearest tenant to the incident, people involved in the incident, vehicles involved in the incident, items involved in the incident, a police report for the incident, or the like. As another example, the XML, document may be transmitted to an system run by an insurance company, and a reply XML document may be returned with insurance information from the insurance company. Such insurance information may include, for example, an insurance ID for the incident, an insurance case worker assigned to the incident, an amount of money awarded from the insurance company for the incident, or the like.

In some embodiments, a reply XML document may be returned by a system with one or more identifiers that have not been replaced in a case where the appropriate data for the corresponding one or more fields are not currently known by the system. Also, in various embodiments, an XML document with identifiers requesting data may be transmitted to more than one system simultaneously to request data from more than one system at a time. In some embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to receive pushed XML documents, which are XML documents that are pushed to theweb server310 from external systems (not shown) without theweb server310 sending a request for the pushed XML documents. In such embodiments that allow for theweb server310 to receive pushed XML documents, theweb server310 may be further programmed to extract needed data from each pushed XML document and to cause thefirst SQL server340A to store the extracted data in relation with an incident corresponding to the pushed XML document. For example, an insurance company could push an insurance ID for an incident to theweb server310 in a pushed XML document, and theweb server310 could cause thefirst SQL server340A to store the insurance ID in relation with information for the incident.

FIG. 68 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention that can be performed by one or more computers. In S50, it is determined whether a reply XML, document further includes one or more tags that were not included in an XML document to which the reply XML document is a response, where the one or more tags correspond to one or more fields in a database. With reference toFIGS. 3 and 68, in various embodiments theweb server310 is programmed to make such a determination. In some embodiments, the method then continues to S51. In S51, content associated with the one or more tags from the reply XML document is stored into the database in a case where it is determined that the reply XML document further includes the one or more tags. In various embodiments, theweb server310 is programmed to extract data from a content portion of elements that include the one or more tags and to cause thefirst SQL server340A to store the extracted data into a database in relation with information concerning a corresponding incident. The method may then end in S52.

As an example, thereply XML document7000 ofFIG. 70 includes the start-tags “<incident_identification>”, “<security_id>”, and <insurcance_id>” in an addedportion7020 of thereply XML document7000, which were not included in theXML document6900 ofFIG. 69. In the example, theweb server310 may receive thereply XML document7000, determine that it includes additional tags that were not in theXML document6900, extract data from content portions of elements that correspond to the additional tags, and then cause thefirst SQL server340A to store the extracted data in a database in correspondence with the incident specified in thereply XML document7000. Thus, in the example, theweb server310 may extract the security ID of “SID-2007-37” and the insurance ID of “2460” from thereply XML document7000 and cause thefirst SQL server340A to store the extracted security ID and insurance ID into a database in relation with information for the incident with the incident ID of “228518”.

In various embodiments, the reply XML document must be transmitted along with a password, such as a code that is generated from the incident ID of the incident specified in the reply XML document, or the like. In various embodiments, theweb server310 and each system from which theweb server310 receives reply XML documents or pushed XML documents have a same password logic to generate a same password number from an incident ID. Thus, in various embodiments, theweb server310 may calculate a code from an incident ID of an incident and compare the code with a code received along with a reply XML document or pushed XML document so as to verify that the reply XML document or pushed XML document has been supplied from an authorized system. In some embodiments, theweb server310 only extracts data from the reply XML document or pushed XML document if the codes are determined to be the same. In some embodiments, specific users may only be able to access information for incidents for which they have supplied information, such as a user from an insurance company being restricted to only accessing information concerning incidents for which the insurance company has provided an insurance ID to theweb server310. In some embodiments, updates for incidents are transmitted from theweb server310 to a device of an end user and a device of an insurance company simultaneously.

In some embodiments, theweb server310 may transmit information concerning available tags that each correspond to a respective field in a database and that can each be selectively inserted into a reply XML document or a pushed XML document to demarcate respective data for the respective field. Such information about available tags may be considered as a type of Application Programming Interface (API) that specifies elements for XML documents that are recognized by theweb server310. In various embodiments, external systems (not shown) may use the information concerning the available tags to send particular information to theweb server310 to have theweb server310 associate the particular information with a corresponding incident. In various embodiments, theweb server310 provides a file, such as an XML Schema language file or the like, that defines a valid schema for XML documents to be provided to theweb server310. In some embodiments, a Software Development Kit (SDK) may be provided with development tools to allow for software engineers to develop programs to interact with a program running on theweb server310 to transmit data to theweb server310 concerning incidents or to receive data from theweb server310 concerning incidents. Such an SDK may define a standard interface to allow programs to automatically interface with theweb server310 to provide and obtain information about incidents. In various embodiments, theweb server310 may transmit programs, such as Java applets or the like, that are to be run by external systems (not shown) to interface with theweb server310 to transmit and receive information about incidents. In various embodiments, one or more computer-readable storage mediums store one or more computer programs that when executed on one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform methods, such as one or more of the methods ofFIGS. 63 and 65-68.

Various embodiments described above with reference toFIGS. 4-70 include the performance of various processes or tasks. In various embodiments, such processes or tasks may be performed through the execution of computer code read from computer-readable storage media. For example, in various embodiments, one or more computer-readable storage mediums store one or more computer programs that, when executed by a server such as the web server310 (refer toFIG. 3), cause the server to perform processes or tasks as described with respect to theweb server310 in the above embodiments. Also, in various embodiments, one or more computer-readable storage mediums store one or more computer programs that, when executed by a computer such as the client computer321 (refer toFIG. 3), cause the computer to perform processes or tasks as described with respect to theclient computer321 in the above embodiments. In various embodiments, one or more computer-readable storage mediums store one or more computer programs that, when executed by a database server such as thefirst SQL server340A (refer toFIG. 3), cause the database server to perform processes or tasks as described with respect to thefirst SQL server340A in the above embodiments.

Thus, embodiments within the scope of the present invention include program products comprising computer-readable or machine-readable media for carrying or having computer or machine executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such computer-readable storage media can be any available media that can be accessed, for example, by a general purpose or special purpose computer or other machine with a processor. By way of example, such computer-readable storage media can comprise semiconductor memory, flash memory, hard disks, optical disks such as compact disks (CDs) or digital versatile disks (DVDs), magnetic storage, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), and/or the like. Combinations of those types of memory are also included within the scope of computer-readable storage media. Computer-executable program code may comprise, for example, instructions and data which cause a computer or processing machine to perform certain functions, calculations, actions, or the like.

The embodiments disclosed herein are to be considered in all respects as illustrative, and not restrictive of the invention. The present invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described above. Various modifications and changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Various modifications and changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be within the scope of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a server over a network from a computer, input that specifies an incident at a facility including a name of a person associated with the incident at the facility;

automatically triggering, by the server in response to receiving the name of the person, a search to determine if the person has been involved in one or more other incidents; and

automatically causing, by the server, the computer to display a warning on a display screen in a case where it is determined that the person has been involved in one or more other incidents.

2. The method ofclaim 1,

wherein the warning includes a button that when pressed causes a page to be displayed on the display screen that shows information about the one or more other incidents in which the person has been involved.

3. The method ofclaim 2,

wherein the information shown about the one or more other incidents includes, for each of the one or more other incidents in which the person has been involved, an associated date, an associated role that the person played, and an associated location.

4. The method ofclaim 2,

wherein the information shown about the one or more other incidents includes, for each of the one or more other incidents in which the person has been involved, an associated indication as to whether the person was injured.

5. The method ofclaim 2,

wherein the page includes a input that can be marked to flag the person so that the person is indicated as a flagged person.

6. The method ofclaim 5,

wherein the input that specifies the incident at the facility further includes a role that the person played in the incident.

7. The method ofclaim 6, further comprising:

automatically flagging, by the server, the person to indicate that the person is a flagged person if the person has played a same role in at least one other incident as the role that the person played in the incident.

8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising:

storing, in a database, information about incidents that have occurred at any of a plurality of facilities;

wherein the search is performed using the database such that the search determines if the person has been involved in one or more other incidents at any of the plurality of facilities.

9. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising:

storing, in a database, information about incidents that are associated with any of a plurality of businesses;

wherein the search is performed using the database such that the search determines if the person has been involved in one or more other incidents that are associated with any of the plurality of businesses.

10. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a server over a network from a computer, input that specifies an item involved in an incident at a facility;

automatically triggering, by the server in response to receiving the input, a search to determine if the item has been involved in one or more other incidents; and

automatically causing, by the server, the computer to display a warning on a display screen in a case where it is determined that the item has been involved in one or more other incidents.

11. The method ofclaim 10,

wherein the input that specifies the item involved in the incident at the facility includes an item code for the item; and

wherein the item code is used in the search to determine if the item has been involved in one or more other incidents.

12. The method ofclaim 11,

wherein the item code is a Universal Product Code (UPC) for the item.

13. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising:

determining, by the server, a number indicating how many times items with the same item code as the item involved in the incident have been involved in incidents at the facility within a date range; and

causing, by the server, the computer to display the number indicating how many times items with the same item code as the item involved in the incident have been involved in incidents at the facility within the date range.

14. The method ofclaim 10, further comprising:

wherein the search is performed using the database such that the search determines if the item has been involved in one or more other incidents at any of the plurality of facilities.

15. The method ofclaim 10, further comprising:

wherein the search is performed using the database such that the search determines if the item has been involved in one or more other incidents that are associated with any of the plurality of businesses.

16. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a server over a network from a computer, input that specifies a vehicle involved in an incident at a facility;

automatically triggering, by the server in response to receiving the input, a search to determine if the vehicle has been involved in one or more other incidents; and

automatically causing, by the server, the computer to display a warning on a display screen in a case where it is determined that the vehicle has been involved in one or more other incidents.

17. The method ofclaim 16,

wherein the input that specifies the vehicle involved in the incident at the facility includes a make and a model of the vehicle; and

wherein the search to determine if the vehicle has been involved in one or more other incidents includes determining whether any vehicle with a same make and a same model as the make and the model of the vehicle has been involved in one or more other incidents.

18. The method ofclaim 16, further comprising:

setting a threshold number;

determining whether a number of incidents at the facility involving vehicles with a same make and a same model as the make and model of the vehicle is greater than the threshold number; and

causing, by the server, the computer to display a particular warning if it is determined that the number of incidents at the facility involving vehicles with the same make and the same model as the make and model of the vehicle is greater than the threshold number.

19. The method ofclaim 16, further comprising:

wherein the search is performed using the database such that the search determines if the vehicle has been involved in one or more other incidents at any of the plurality of facilities.

20. The method ofclaim 16, further comprising:

wherein the search is performed using the database such that the search determines if the vehicle has been involved in one or more other incidents that are associated with any of the plurality of businesses.