BOLO Alerts: How to Get the Right Description to Every Officer Fast

BOLO — “be on the lookout” — is how a security team turns a single piece of information (a banned individual, a stolen vehicle, a person of interest) into many sets of eyes watching for it. The value is entirely in getting the right description to the right officers fast, and keeping it in front of them. Here's how BOLO alerts work and how to use them well.

How BOLO alerts work

You create the alert — who or what to watch for, a description, a photo if you have one, and the instruction (observe and report, deny entry, call police) — and push it to the relevant officers. It surfaces on their device and stays accessible, so an officer coming on shift sees the active BOLOs for their site rather than relying on a verbal handoff that may never happen.

Using them well

Be specific. A vague description helps no one; concrete details and a photo make a BOLO actionable.

State the instruction. Officers need to know what to do if they spot the subject — observe, report, deny entry, call police.

Target the right posts. Send it to the officers it's relevant to, so it doesn't get lost in noise.

Retire it when it's over. Clear stale BOLOs so the active list stays meaningful.

Why it matters

The classic failure is information that lives in one officer's head or a sign-in sheet nobody reads — the night officer never hears about the trespasser the day officer was warned about. A BOLO that reaches every relevant officer, with a description they can act on, closes that gap and is often what catches a repeat problem. When something does happen, the alert and the response become part of your incident record.

Common pitfalls

• Too vague — a description no one can act on.
• No instruction — officers spot the subject and don't know what to do.
• Never retired — a stale list of old BOLOs that officers stop reading.

Frequently asked questions

What does BOLO mean? “Be on the lookout” — an alert telling officers to watch for a specific person, vehicle, or situation, with a description and an instruction.

What makes a good BOLO? A specific description, a photo where possible, a clear instruction for what to do, sent to the officers it's relevant to — and retired when it's no longer active.

Why not just tell officers verbally? Verbal handoffs get missed, especially across shifts. A pushed BOLO that stays visible reaches the officer coming on at midnight who'd otherwise never hear it.