The OWL Case Management module is the central organizational framework for investigations, intelligence workflows, and regulated case handling. It allows users to organize Subject, records, documents, forms, tips, searches, reports, and investigative activity under a controlled case structure.
OWL supports both:
- Case-first workflows, where a Case is created at the beginning of an investigation.
- Data-first workflows, where information is collected first and organized into a Case later.
This flexibility allows OWL to support law enforcement, government, insurance SIU, corporate investigations, compliance teams, and other regulated environments without forcing users to create a Case before enough information is available.
Case as the Central Hub
A Case in OWL serves as the authoritative container for organizing investigative activity. Once created, the Case becomes the governed workspace that connects related people, records, documents, and activities under one controlled investigation record.
Within a Case, users can manage:
- One or more Subjects, including individuals, organizations, locations, assets, or other entities under review
- Supporting Forms, such as intake forms, incident reports, affidavits, or internal documentation
- Tips and Leads, whether received internally, from the public, or from third parties
- OWLdocs records, including documents, images, videos, and evidentiary files
- OWLvault secured storage and protected records
- Third-party data provider results and connector search results
- API generated records created automatically through integrations
- Reports attached to Case
- Tasks and Events assigned to users
- Notes documenting investigation updates and findings
- Monitoring and deconfliction results
- Audit history and compliance indicators
All activity within a case is governed by role-based access controls, audit logging, retention rules, collaboration permissions, and compliance settings configured by administrators.
Case Workflows
OWL does not require that a Case be created before data exists. This is a critical design decision that supports real-world investigative and intelligence workflows.
Case-First Workflow
In a Case-first workflow:
- A Case is created.
- Subjects are added to the Case.
- Records such as forms, documents, tips, tasks, notes, searches, and reports are added directly to the Case.
This workflow is useful when the investigation or matter is already known at the beginning.
Data-First Workflow
In a data-first workflow:
- Records are collected first.
- Records may remain unlinked until enough information is available.
- Records can be attached to a Subject or to a Case.
- One or more Subjects can later be attached to a Case.
This workflow is useful when information is still being evaluated and a formal Case should not be created too early.
Orphan Records and Pre-Case Data Collection
OWL allows records to exist independently before being associated with a Subject or Case. These records are often referred to as orphan records and may include:
- Tips or leads received before sufficient context exists to open a case
- Forms submitted without a known subject
- Reports
- Results from data queries to third-party data providers
- Documents or files uploaded for later review
- Subjects
These records are fully governed, logged, and secured even before they are attached to a Subject or Case.
Attaching Records to Subjects
As information matures, orphan records can be attached to a Subject. A subject represents the primary individual, entity, or object under scrutiny.
Multiple record types can be associated directly with a Subject, including:
- Tips and leads
- Forms
- Documents and media
- External data Results
- Tasks
- Imported Records
- Add Notes
This allows investigators and analysts to build a subject profile incrementally without committing to a formal Case prematurely.
Attaching Subjects to Cases
Once sufficient context exists, one or more subjects can be attached to a Case.
A Case may contain:
- A single Subject, such as a focused investigation
- Multiple Subjects, such as networks, related parties, or co-involved entities
When Subjects are attached to a Case, all associated records follow the Subject into the Case context, preserving full traceability and audit history.
This model supports complex investigations involving multiple people, organizations, or data sources while maintaining clear governance boundaries.
Governance, Auditability, and Compliance
OWL Case Management is designed for regulated and sensitive environments. Case activity is controlled through security and compliance settings configured by the organization.
Depending on configuration, OWL may enforce:
- Role-based access control
- Department and collaboration-based visibility
- Access rights and clearance levels
- Retention policies
- Legal hold
- 28 CFR Part 23 compliance
- Data classification
- Juvenile or restricted record indicators
- Audit logging
- Chain-of-custody tracking for documents and evidence
- Controlled information sharing
This ensures OWL remains auditor-ready and defensible across CJIS, insurance regulatory, privacy, and evidentiary use Cases.
Why Case Management Matters
OWL Case Management is not just a static case file system. It is a flexible, compliance-driven investigation framework that allows information to be collected, evaluated, organized, governed, and reviewed throughout the full lifecycle of an investigation.
By connecting Cases, Subjects, records, documents, searches, Tasks, Reports, and audit history, OWL helps users:
- Keep related investigation information together
- Reduce duplicate records and duplicate investigations
- Improve collaboration across teams
- Maintain security and access control
- Support compliance and audit readiness
- Build a complete investigative record over time