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Introducing ProFID series alerts

ProFID series alerts​

ProFID series alerts are a long-awaited feature which we hope will bring a great operational value to the project.

What are series alerts?​

Series alerts are PDF documents generated through ProFID which are meant to be disseminated to raise the attention on an active series. The goal of such alerts is manifold:

  • Inform that a series has been detected by a law enforcement agency and that other agencies may also be concerned
  • Let people know about the ongoing investigative measures, the need to collect and share information related to the series and its underlying organised crime group.
  • Improve detection of documents, which helps first and second line officers fight against document fraud and the organised crime group related to that series.
  • Provide guidance to officers on the behaviour to adopt towards the document holder when facing a document belonging to a series.
  • Facilitate the gathering of critically important intelligence in the context of an investigation related to a series.

How to create a series alert?​

Series alerts are defined through a set of 4 fields:

  • General information: This field is meant to provide general context around the series, focusing on what is relevant to the alert. It can be for example a sum-up of the investigative results to date or the profile and routing of the holders of these documents.
  • Rapid identification image: An image which illustrates what the specific features of this series are and where they are located on the document, usually based on a typical example of a document belonging to the series.
  • Rapid identification element: A list of check points to identify the document as belonging to the series. It should refer to the "rapid identification image" for context. The most specific and obvious elements should be listed first.
  • Measures: What one is expected to do when they identify a document belonging to the series. For instance, it can be to inform agent X from law enforcement agency Z that a new case has been detected, to search the smartphone of the holder of the document to find information on where and to whom it was bought, or how first and second-line officers should behave when facing a document belonging to the series (such as "Consider the holder as a possible terrorist").

Alerts can be translated into multiple languages.

Rapid identification image

Example of a rapid identification image for the "BROKEN-SCEPTER" series.

Click here to view a full example of an alert.

The series alert lifecycle​

Alerts go through the following lifecycle:

  • Not published (draft): The alert is created and being edited. It awaits to be published for everybody to see.
  • Published: The alert is published and can be viewed by everybody.
  • Published with draft: The alert is still published but a new draft revision is being edited.
  • Published: The new revision is published and can be viewed by everybody.
  • Archived: The alert is no longer relevant and is hidden from users.

A series can only have one non-archived alert at any given time. Once an alert is archived, a new alert can be created for the series.

Who can create series alerts?​

Any user with the editor role can create and edit any alert. Users with the viewer role can only view published alerts.