Daily Operations

Standard Operating Procedures

Daily Operations

This page is the shift playbook for guards and supervisors. It walks through every task you perform on a normal day in ERPat Patrol — writing blotter entries, checking visitors in and out, filing and progressing incidents, running patrol rounds, handing over the shift, and issuing equipment. Each task is written as a numbered procedure you can follow at the guardhouse.

Five rules that apply to everything you log

Before the individual procedures, learn the handful of ground rules that govern all Patrol records. They explain why the screens behave the way they do.

1. Every record gets a reference number. The system assigns it automatically when you save — EVT-2026-0001 for a blotter entry, INC-… for an incident, VIS-… for a visit, HND-… for a handover, RUN-… for a patrol round. Quote that number when you talk about the record on the radio or in a report.
2. You cannot secretly edit a submitted record. Blotter entries, incidents and handovers are append-only. Correcting one creates a new version and keeps the original visible as “superseded”. This is what makes the logbook trustworthy in an investigation.
3. Records are tamper-evident. Each entry is fingerprinted into a daily chain. A nightly check re-walks that chain, so any attempt to alter or delete history is flagged automatically — you don’t have to do anything for this to work.
4. Privacy by default. Patrol deliberately does not store government ID numbers, ID photos, or dates of birth. Verify identity by eye, hand the ID straight back, and tick “ID visually verified”.
5. Always record the time and place it happened. Set the occurred date/time (defaults to now) and pick the Site. You enter times in your local clock; Patrol stores them in UTC and shows everyone their local time.

Writing blotter (activity log) entries

The Activity Log is the digital blotter — your searchable record of routine and noteworthy events at the gate and on the property. Use it for shift starts, roving observations, deliveries, maintenance visits, minor notes, and anything that doesn’t rise to a formal incident.

Procedure: log a new entry

1. Go to Patrol → Activity Log and click Log Activity (needs patrol_log_create).
2. Pick the Site where it happened.
3. Choose a Category — the kind of event (see the table below).
4. Set the Occurred date and time. Leave it as-is for “right now”, or back-date it if you are logging something that happened earlier in the shift.
5. Write a short Summary (optional, one line) and the Narrative — the required, factual account of what happened.
6. Optionally add Action taken and a free-text Location (e.g. “Basement 2 ramp”).
7. Attach photos if they help. They are stored with the entry and survive later amendments.
8. Click Save. The entry is stamped with a reference like EVT-2026-0001, fingerprinted into the day’s chain, and appears at the top of the list.

Procedure: correct an entry (amend)

You can’t overwrite a submitted entry — you amend it, which keeps the original for the record.

1. Open the entry and click the Amend (pencil) action (needs patrol_log_update).
2. Make your corrections.
3. Enter an Amendment reason — this is saved to the audit trail so anyone reading the record knows why it changed.
4. Click Save. A new version is created (the entry shows a v2, v3… badge); the previous version stays visible in the entry’s history.

Procedure: turn a blotter entry into an incident

When a logged event turns out to be serious, promote it to the formal Incident register without retyping it.

1. Open the entry (it must be the current version).
2. Click Create incident (needs patrol_incident_create). The incident form opens pre-filled from the blotter entry.
3. Set the severity and any extra detail, then save. The two records are linked — afterwards the entry offers an Open the incident button.

Managing visitors

The Visitors screen handles the whole gate flow: check a visitor in, watch who is currently inside, flag overstays, and check them out — all while keeping identity data to a privacy-safe minimum. It also supports host pre-registration invites and visitor passes.

Procedure: check a visitor in

1. Go to Patrol → Visitors and click Check In Visitor (needs patrol_visitor_create).
2. Enter the Visitor name (required) and the Host / unit they are visiting.
3. Add the purpose/destination, and — if relevant — a Vehicle plate and a Badge number you are issuing.
4. Tick ID visually verified and pick the ID type if you checked one.
5. Optionally set an Expected departure time so the system can flag an overstay.
6. Click Save. The visit gets a VIS-… reference, its status becomes Checked in, and the occupancy counter goes up by one.

Watching who is inside & overstays

The Visitors page header shows how many people are currently inside and how many have overstayed. A visit that is still checked in past its expected departure time shows an overstay warning on its row — a prompt to follow up. The list defaults to today’s visits.

Procedure: check out or deny a visitor

1. Find the visit in the list (checked-in visits show a Check Out button — needs patrol_visitor_update).
2. Click Check Out when the visitor leaves. The status becomes Checked out, the departure time is stamped, and occupancy drops by one.
3. To refuse entry, click Deny instead and record the reason. Every check-in, check-out and denial is written to the visit’s event trail.

Procedure: pre-register a visitor (host invite)

Hosts can invite an expected visitor ahead of time so the gate is ready for them.

1. On the Visitors page open the Invites area and click New Invite (needs patrol_visitor_create).
2. Enter the visitor’s name and the visit details.
3. Save. Patrol generates a unique QR token to share with the visitor; the invite sits in Pending until it is used, cancelled, or expires.
4. On arrival, check the visitor in as usual — the invite links to the visit.

Procedure: issue & revoke a visitor pass

1. Open an active (checked-in) visit and click Issue Pass (needs patrol_visitor_create). Choose the pass type (QR, badge, or RFID).
2. Patrol mints a unique pass code (e.g. PASS-3F9A1C7D) to give to the visitor.
3. If a pass is lost or the visit ends early, open it and click Revoke Pass (needs patrol_visitor_update) to invalidate the code.

Filing & progressing incidents

An Incident is a formal security record with a severity, an eight-step lifecycle, the people involved, follow-up tasks, and evidence held under chain of custody. File one whenever an event needs investigation, escalation, or a durable record beyond a blotter note.

Procedure: file an incident

1. Go to Patrol → Incidents and click Create Incident (needs patrol_incident_create). You can also start one from a blotter entry — see escalate to incident.
2. Set the Severity — Low, Medium, High, or Critical.
3. Pick the Category, Site, and Occurred date/time.
4. Write the Title and a factual Narrative.
5. If the matter is sensitive, tick Restricted — it will then be visible only to staff with patrol_evidence_view.
6. Tick the Notify option if you want the incident-raised alert sent (recipients are configured by your admin — see Administration).
7. Click Save. The incident gets an INC-… reference and opens at status Open.

Procedure: move an incident through its lifecycle

From the incident’s detail view, use Change status to advance it. Each move is recorded on the incident’s action timeline. Different transitions need different permissions:

Procedure: record people and follow-up tasks

1. On the incident, open People and click Add person (needs patrol_incident_update). Tag their role — reporter, witness, suspect, victim, responder, or other — and capture their statement.
2. Open Tasks and click Add task for each follow-up. Assign it to a team member, set a priority and a due date.
3. Tick a task off with Mark done as it is completed.

Procedure: add evidence & record custody

Evidence is where Patrol’s chain of custody matters most. Files are stored securely; only their metadata and a content fingerprint live in the incident.

1. On the incident, open Evidence and click Add evidence (needs patrol_evidence_manage).
2. Upload the file (photo, video, document) or, for a physical item, choose Physical and give it a label and a seal number.
3. Save. Patrol computes a content hash, sets the item to Held, and records a Collected custody event.
4. Every time the item changes hands, open it and record a custody event — Transferred, Checked out, Checked in, Disclosed, or Destroyed. Each event links to the one before it, forming an unbroken, tamper-evident custody trail.

Running patrol rounds

A patrol round (a “run”) is one pass along a defined route, scanning each checkpoint in turn. Checkpoints carry a printable scan code so Patrol can prove you were physically there. If a round runs long, the system flags it as overdue automatically.

Procedure: start, scan, and complete a round

1. Go to Patrol → Rounds and click Start Round (needs patrol_run_execute). Choose the route.
2. The run opens with a RUN-… reference and shows how many checkpoints are expected.
3. At each checkpoint, scan its code (QR / NFC / BLE / GPS, or a manual entry where allowed). A valid scan ticks the checkpoint off and advances your progress count.
4. Saw something along the way? Click Add observation, set a severity, describe it, and attach photos. Observations are attached to the run.
5. When you have covered the route, click Complete Round. If every checkpoint was scanned it closes as Completed; if some were missed you record a short reason and it closes as an Exception.
6. If you must stop early (recalled, emergency), click Abort Round and note why.

Shift handover

At the end of a shift, the outgoing guard hands over to the incoming guard with a written, signed-off summary. Patrol builds the checklist for you from the live state of the property, so nothing important gets dropped in the changeover.

Procedure: submit a handover

1. Go to Patrol → Handover and click New Handover (needs Handover access).
2. Confirm the outgoing and incoming guards.
3. Write your handover summary. Add any free-text items — one per line — for instructions the next guard must know.
4. Save. Patrol mints an HND-… reference and auto-captures the current open state: high-priority open incidents and every visitor still inside become checklist items alongside your notes.

Procedure: acknowledge a handover

1. The incoming guard (or a supervisor) opens the handover and reviews the checklist.
2. Click Acknowledge (needs patrol_handover_acknowledge). This confirms receipt and is recorded once against that version of the handover.

Issuing & returning equipment

The Assets screen tracks security equipment — radios, flashlights, keys, vehicles, batons — and the custody of each item as it is issued to a guard and returned.

Procedure: issue an item

1. Go to Patrol → Assets, find an available item, and click Issue (needs patrol_asset_assign).
2. Choose the guard receiving it and set an expected return time.
3. Note the item’s condition out, then save. The asset’s status changes to Out.

Procedure: return an item

1. Open the open assignment and click Return (needs patrol_asset_assign).
2. Record the condition in and save. The assignment closes and the asset returns to Available.

Quick shift checklists

Use these as a memory aid, not a replacement for the procedures above.

Guard — every shift

• Log your shift start in the Activity Log.
• Check visitors in and out promptly; never store IDs — verify by eye.
• Clear any overstay flags before end of shift.
• Run your assigned rounds; scan every checkpoint; log observations.
• Raise a formal incident for anything security-significant.
• Return issued equipment and record its condition.
• Submit your handover to the incoming guard.

Supervisor — every shift

• Review new and open incidents; acknowledge and assign them.
• Watch the occupancy and overstay counters on the Visitors screen.
• Check for overdue or exception rounds and follow up.
• Chase overdue equipment.
• Confirm each handover is acknowledged.

Where to go next

• Getting Started — enabling Patrol, the permission map, and your first records.
• Administration — sites/zones/gates/posts, incident-alert recipients, escalation and other cron timings, retention and legal holds.
• Data & Screen Reference — every screen, field, status, and route.
• FAQ & Troubleshooting — quick answers to “why can’t I edit / why didn’t the alert arrive / who can see restricted incidents”.