The OWL Subject Management module provides a centralized way to manage the people, organizations, assets, locations, and other entities that are the focus of investigations or operational activities. While a Case acts as the governing container for an investigation, a Subject represents the identity or entity around which information is collected and analyzed.
A Subject can exist independently or as part of an investigation, allowing organizations to build comprehensive profiles over time without requiring immediate case creation. This flexibility supports law enforcement, government agencies, insurance SIUs, corporate security, procurement, compliance, and intelligence-driven workflows.
Unlike traditional systems where every record must belong to a case, OWL allows subjects to be created, enriched, and governed independently before being associated with one or more cases.
Subject as the Central Identity
A Subject serves as the primary identity record that consolidates all information related to an individual, organization, asset, location, supplier, vehicle, or any other entity being tracked.
A subject acts as the central profile where investigators can continuously collect and organize information regardless of whether a formal investigation has been opened.
Within a subject, users can manage:
- Personal or organizational details
- Aliases and alternate identities
- Affiliations and relationships
- Attached documents and media
- Forms
- Tips and leads
- Notes and investigative observations
- Reports related to the subject
As additional information becomes available, the subject profile continues to evolve while maintaining complete audit history.
Subject-First Investigation Workflow
Many investigations begin by identifying a person or entity before there is enough information to justify opening a formal case.
OWL supports this workflow by allowing investigators to create a subject immediately and gradually build a complete profile over time.
For example:
- A suspicious individual is identified from CCTV footage.
- A supplier is flagged during a procurement audit.
- A customer is identified through fraud monitoring.
- An employee is reported through an ethics hotline.
Instead of creating a case immediately, investigators can create a subject, attach available information, and continue gathering intelligence until sufficient evidence exists to initiate a formal investigation.
Independent Subject Records
Subjects can exist independently without belonging to any case.
These standalone subjects are commonly used for:
- Persons of interest
- Watchlists
- Intelligence gathering
- Supplier monitoring
- Background investigations
- Future investigative reference
- Compliance monitoring
These are often referred to as orphan subjects, meaning they are fully governed subject records that are not currently associated with a case.
Independent subjects maintain:
- Security permissions
- Audit history
- Retention policies
- Classification labels
- Attached records
- Search indexing
They can later be attached to a Case without losing historical information.
Attaching Records to Subjects
Subjects act as a container for numerous investigative records.
Multiple record types can be associated directly with a subject, including:
- Forms
- Tips and Leads
- Documents and media
- Reports
- Notes
- OWLDocs files
- OWLVault secured records
This allows investigators to organize information around the subject rather than forcing everything into a case immediately.
Attaching Subjects to Cases
Once sufficient investigative context exists, one or more subjects can be attached to a case.
Examples include:
- A suspect attached to a criminal investigation
- A victim attached to an incident
- A witness linked to multiple related cases
- Multiple suppliers attached to a procurement investigation
- Several organizations connected within a fraud investigation
A single case may contain:
- One subject
- Multiple subjects
- Multiple subject types
When a subject is attached to a case:
- Existing records become available within the case context.
- Future records may continue to be added directly to the subject.
- Full audit history is preserved.
- Relationships remain intact.
- Governance policies continue to apply.
Subjects may also be detached from a case without deleting the underlying subject record, ensuring investigative history is preserved.
Subject Search and Discovery
OWL provides powerful search capabilities to locate subjects across the platform.
Users can search using information such as:
- Name
- Alias
- Date of birth
- Email address
- Phone number
- Address
Search results can include both standalone subjects and subjects already associated with cases, depending on user permissions.
This enables investigators to quickly identify existing records, reduce duplication, and discover previously known entities.
Summary
OWL Subject Management provides a flexible, identity-centric framework for managing the individuals, organizations, assets, and entities involved in investigations and operational workflows.
Subjects can exist independently, accumulate information over time, and later become part of an investigation without losing historical context. By supporting subject-first workflows, configurable templates, rich relationships, and enterprise-grade governance, OWL enables investigators to build comprehensive profiles while maintaining security, auditability, and compliance throughout the investigative lifecycle.
Subject Management includes the following primary features:
- Add Subject – Create new subject records using standard or custom templates.
- View & Edit Subject – Access and update subjects based on user permissions.
- Attach Subject to Case – Associate one or more subjects with an investigation.
- Detach Subject from Case – Remove subject associations while preserving the subject record.
- Subject Search – Search and locate subjects using predefined or custom attributes.
- Subject Relationships – Link subjects to a case and/ore other investigative records.
- Templates – Standardize subject information using configurable field templates.
- Record Associations – Attach forms, tips & leads, documents, reports and other related data to build a complete subject profile.