KMS Agency Manuals

KMS Agency Manuals

Agency Administrators, Agency Authors & Manual Authors are the people who can edit policy (as you remember from the permissions above). The individuals with the higher permissions see both the Issued and Draft versions of the manual while the lower permissions only see the Issued Manual. This is the focal point for all agencies with lots of capability but there are also a lot of idiosyncrasies to the program. Learning and understanding the functions will greatly improve your experience with writing /editing policy. Let’s dive into the editing process.

General notes about editing policy.

• When an agency joins Lexipol they receive a “Draft” Manual. This manual is where all updates and revisions occur. Once the manual is ready to release and the policies are set to approved, releasing the policy creates an “Issued” Version of the manual. Each time policy is released it will create a NEW “Issued” manual and the previous version is archived.

• When policy is released to the “Issued” manual, all users receive an email which is a “Notification of Policy to Acknowledge”. When users login they will see that there is Policy to Acknowledge on their dashboard.

• When the policy is put into edit status, for any reason, it will reflect a "locked" icon and the word “Locked” appears in the Table of Contents until editing is complete and you select “I am finished editing/updating”.

• In the Table of Contents, the policy will reflect the status of “Draft”, “Approved” or “In-Approval” based on what status was indicated within the policy while editing or “Locked” if the admin exits the policy incorrectly without choosing “I am finished editing/updating”.

• Policy cannot be moved or removed or renumbered if in a locked status. Additionally, no other policy, within the chapter, can be moved or removed.

• The Chief’s Preface and associated sections (i.e. Mission Statement, Code of Ethics, etc.) update each time Policy is released. Therefore, if any unaccepted edits exist within those sections, policy releases will be rejected with a message that displays, “Chief’s Preface (or other section) contains track changes”. Once the changes are accepted then policy can be released.

• Policy edits and/or new text entry appears Blue and Underlined or Red and Struck Through (if removed/deleted) and remains that way until “Accept All” is chosen and then all edited content is removed and/or reflects now in Black and White.

• Red Exclamation Point – in the TOC denotes a policy that has never been issued and should reflect a “Draft” status. This remains until the policy is placed in approved status and released to the issued manual or they are hidden from the TOC (see Excluding Policy).

Definition of Policy Tags –

Sections and Sub-sections of policy have labels that reflect: Agency Content, Best Practice, Discretionary, State or Federal. There is also an additional label that appears after a section has been edited that reflects: Modified (i.e. ). A brief description of each label:

Agency Content – Content that is produced by the Agency or if the section has been manipulated past being recognized as Lexipol Content, the label will change to “Agency Content”. (Agencies should be careful with modifying content to this extent as the Lexipol Updates will no longer be delivered).

Best Practice – Content that is derived from Lawsuits. No Law governs these sections.

Discretionary – Content that may or may not be applicable to the Agency. This is more of “common sense” content but is up to the Agency if they want to use it.

State – State Law or State Court Decisions, Post Regulation or Mandate from the State.

Federal – Content that is Constitutional or Federal Case Law driven.

Note: The Modified label will appear any time the section of policy is entered, and any keystroke occurs. If the change is not warranted the only way to remove the label is to revert the section to the previous version or revert the changes on the entire policy. (See Reverting Changes)

Policy Actions

Adding a Chapter –

1. Open the Draft Manual

2. Click the gear beside the Agency Policy Name at the top of the page.

1. Choose “Add Chapter”

OR

1. Go to the Chapter below where the new chapter should be located and click the gear and select “Add Chapter Above”

Moving a Chapter –

1. Open the Draft Manual

2. Go to the Chapter that needs to be moved and click the gear.

3. Choose “Move Chapter”

1. Follow the instructions at the top of the page. Choose the new location.

2. Once the location is chosen then you will be prompted to choose “above” or “below”.

3. Choose Move.

Adding a Policy –

1. Open the Draft Manual

2. Go to the Chapter Title and click the gear.

3. Select Add Policy. The policy will automatically be located at the bottom of the chapter but can be moved to the desired location by dragging it into the appropriate position.

Building a New Policy –

Open the newly created policy and choose in the Yellow Banner “I want put the policy into Draft status and edit/update”.

1. Select the Policy Title and rename the Policy (a blue text box will appear around the title).

1. Under the toolbar, Upper left corner, select “Add Section” in green.

1. This will create and number the first section of the policy.

1. Select “Section Title” to name the section. Then place the cursor below the section and a blue dotted box will appear where content can be entered.

Adding a Section –

1. This option is under the toolbar and is always available when editing. It will be a green circle with a plus sign, “Add Section”.

Adding a Subsection to a Section –

1. Right click on the wheel next to the section being worked.

2. In the pick list is an option “Add Subsection to Section”. This will create a subsection within the section (i.e. Section 104.1 and adding a subsection would create 104.1.1)

1. Click the title for the subsection and name the subsection and then click below the title section and a blue dotted box will appear where content can be entered.

Important Note on Excluding Policies

Regardless of the reason, policy should not be deleted but only un-included from the manual to substantiate the archives.

Excluding Policy from the Draft/Issued Manual -

1. Open the Draft Manual

2. Find policy and Open for editing/updating.

3. Under the Toolbar look for the “Include” box.

1. Remove the checkmark. This will automatically approve and remove the Policy from the DRAFT manual. This also automatically places the policy in the “Issue Approved Policies” page to be released.

NOTE: Policies MUST be released to facilitate deletion/removal from the ISSUED version of the manual.

Show Removed Filter –

To review removed/excluded policies, sections, and sub-sections.

1. Open draft manual

2. Go to Filters

3. Check “Show Removed”

Re-adding a Removed Policy -

1. Open draft manual

2. Go to Filters and check “Show Removed”.

3. Go to the section and open the policy to edit/update.

4. Check the “Included” box under the toolbar.

5. Save changes.

6. Click “I am finished editing/updating”.

7. Reopen the policy and the strikethrough content should be cleared.

Re-adding a Section or Subsection to Policy -

1. Open draft manual

2. Go to Filters check “Show Removed”.

3. Find and open the policy for editing.

4. Go to the section or subsection that needs to be Included and left click the gear.

5. In the Properties look for the Include box and checkmark the “Included” box

6. Close the properties box. Content/section should now be added back to the policy.

Removing a Section or Subsection from Policy –

1. Open draft manual

2. Open the policy and enter edit/update mode.

3. Left Click the gear beside the section or subsection to enter the Properties box.

4. Remove the checkmark from the “Include” box next to Version.

5. Close the properties box. Content and section/subsection should now be removed.

Promoting a Subsection to a Section –

1. Open draft manual

2. Open the policy and enter edit/update mode.

3. Right Click the gear beside the subsection.

4. Choose “Move”.

5. Choose “Promote”, the list will change. Now choose the new location for the new section.

6. Choose “Promote” and the subsection should now be a section.

Demoting a Section to a Subsection –

1. Open draft manual

2. Open the policy and enter edit/update mode.

3. Right Click the gear beside the section

4. Choose “Move”

5. Choose the Parent Section that the chosen Section will be converted to a Subsection.

6. Choose “Demote” and the section should now be a subsection.

Moving a Policy to a new location –

This is a drag and drop feature. Go to the policy to be moved, grab it with the mouse and drag to the new location. While dragging the policy:

• If the line is Green, displays a green X with the message “Drag and drop to renumber or move” – location is good.

• If the line is Red, displays a red X with the message “Drag and drop to renumber or move –location is not good.

When the policy is dropped, there will be a pop-up box that displays “Re-order Content?” and confirmation of the policy being moved and where it will go. Choose “OK” or “CANCEL”.

Larger moves (i.e. moving from one chapter to another), may require a drop place in chapters between as the chapters have to be open. This will facilitate getting to the new location. Remember that you cannot move past a locked policy so for larger moves you need to be sure that policies in all chapters in between are not in a locked status. You should be able to collapse the chapters to move the policy more efficiently.

Processing Lexipol Updates –

There are 3 main update categories:

Minor Update 

These updates are non-substantive changes the agency may review as time allows. They are not intended to address a risk, but are made to improve grammar, organization, or readability. This status should rarely be used because minor updates are usually not processed until the policy has a more substantial update needed, and the highest update category should be used. The following are examples of minor updates: 

• TE fixes or TE capitalization. 

• Grammar or punctuation that does not change the meaning of the content.  

• Spelling (unless the original created confusion as to meaning). 

• Corrections to citation formatting (e.g., periods, section symbols) when the error did not affect Legal’s ability to maintain the manual via Brief Tools. 

• Style/formatting changes (e.g., to remove extra lines or spaces; to conform to Lexipol Style Guide guidance such as not to use “as” for “since” or “because”.

• Added serial commas or removed index terms. 

Major Update 

These updates are substantive changes the agency should review and accept as soon as practicable. They don’t address a critical risk but improve integrity and/or accuracy. The following are examples of major updates: 

• Best practice/procedure changes. 

• Citation corrections or legislative renumbering. 

• Title changes that change meaning (e.g., “Emergency Action Plan” to “Emergency Action Plan and Fire Prevention Plan,” or “Elder Abuse” to “Adult Abuse.”) 

• Significant additions to content/content moving to another policy. 

• Legislative or case law changes for which the governing body or court did not include mandates/effective date, or new policies without mandates/effective date. 

• Addition of a policy, depending on the circumstances/risk.  

• Deletion of a policy. 

• Word changes, other than legislative changes, that clarify the intended meaning of existing wording (e.g., “press” to “media”). 

• Updates in response to accreditation standards without an effective date. 

Critical Update 

These updates are changes related to a change in the law or the identification of a risk that requires prompt remediation and should be reviewed by the agency as soon as possible. The following are examples of critical updates: 

• Legislative or case law changes for which the governing body or court put mandates/effective dates. 

• New policies that contain mandates/effective dates. 

• Changes in best practice that address significant risks. 

• Addition of a policy, depending on the circumstances/risk. 

• Updates in response to accreditation standards with an effective date. 

Processing Lexipol Updates –

1. Open draft manual

2. The Large window on the right will display the number and status level of the updates.

• 1. Red - policy has a critical update available.

  2. Yellow - policy has a major update available.

  3. Grey - policy has a minor update available and typically auto applied.

1. Go to the policy that has updates pending.

   1. The yellow banner will reflect how many updates are available.

• 1. Click to enter edit mode and process the updates.

  2. Scroll through and where there is an applicable update the screen will display two sides. The left is current policy, and the right is proposed changes to policy.

• 1. Three buttons separate the two sides.

     1. “Compare Content” – Changes the appearance of the right side to appear as it will when the update is complete.

     2. “Accept Update” – Accepts the Update

     3. “Reject Update” – Rejects the Update

  2. Once the updates are processed, set the policy to “Approved” status and then it is ready to release to the Issued manual and will send out Notification of Policy to Acknowledge to users.

Editing Text Entities –

Content that is shaded Grey and in Red Brackets should NOT be deleted. These are Text Entities and can be edited through the GIQ, “General Information Questionnaire”. Text Entities are meant to make editing policy/content throughout the manual easier.

To edit a Text Entity:

1. Open draft manual

2. Note the TE that needs to be edited.

3. Click the Gear beside the manual name at the top left.

1. Choose the first option in the list, “General Information Questionnaire”.

1. Find the text entity(s), that need to be edited.

   1. Some options are prefilled choices or enter the custom content in “Other”

1. Save Changes to Manual and Text Entities are saved in all occurrences in the Draft manual.

Approving Policy –

There are two ways to Approve policies, and this occurs in the Draft Manual:

1. Go into the policy to Edit/Update

   1. Top left, under the toolbar, change the Status drop-down box from “Draft” to “Approved”. NOTE: Policies must be in “Approved” status to be released to the “Issued” Manual. If there are no issues within the policy it will be automatically checked in and reflect the selected status, when exiting the Edit/Update Mode using the “I am finished editing/updating”.

1. IF the policy is in “Draft” status in the Table of Contents, checkmark the box next to the policy, then go to the Chapter title, click the gear, and choose “Approve Selected Policy”.

Releasing Policy to the Issued Manual –

Policies that are in “Approved” status in the draft manual are ready for release to the Issued manual.

1. Go to the Manuals tab.

2. On the draft manual line go to the button to the far right “Issue Approved Policies”. This is a holding area for policies ready to be released. Within that screen, the top portion shows all policies currently in “Approved” status.

1. Check the box beside each policy for release or check the top box beside Policy to select all policies.

1. Select release. Note: Policies can take a while to issue.

There is an option available, on request, to allow for Silent Issuance (this gives the ability to issue policy that doesn’t require End-user Acknowledgement. Beneficial for correcting spelling or grammatical errors.

Policy Stuck Issuing -

If policies are stuck being released to the manual (still on the Issue Policies page at the bottom). These policies will appear in the bottom window of “Issue Approved Policy”. Once they are released go back to “Issue Approved Policy” and verify they have cleared out of the bottom window. If after a period the policies are still there, please contact Lexipol Customer Support for assistance. Once the policies are released by Lexipol they will go back to “Approved” status and will need to be released.

Policy Stuck Updating -

Write down all the policy names and numbers that appear to be stuck in the Update process within the draft and contact Lexipol Customer Support for assistance. Once policies are reset, they should return to draft status.

Locked Policies -

Policies within the draft manual that appear with the lock symbol and won’t allow user to enter “edit/update” mode may be locked internally. If the lock cannot be broken by “I want to continue editing/updating” or the person who locked it isn’t the current user, please Contact Lexipol Customer Support for assistance. If Customer Support cannot unlock the policy, it will be a ticket with IT which Customer Support will create.

Rejecting a New Policy -

Lexipol sends new policy for various reasons in the update packages. Agencies always have the option to accept or reject new policy. The agency may decide that the new policy isn’t relevant to them. Rejecting the policy does not mean the policy is deleted. It is just “Removed” in the options for content in the current draft manual. However, new Policies that were rejected can always be recalled.

1. To recall: Manuals > Draft > Filters > Show Removed.

2. Follow the instructions: Re-add a Removed Policy

Rejecting an Update that Adds a Section or Sub-section to an Existing Policy -

Lexipol sends new sections and sub-sections for various reasons in the update packages. Agencies always have the option to accept or reject the section or subsection. The agency may decide that the content isn’t relevant to them. Rejecting the content does not mean that it is deleted. It is just “Removed” in the options for content in the current policy. However, these sections/sub-sections can always be recalled.

1. To recall: Manuals > Draft > Filters > Show Removed.

2. Follow the instructions: Re-add a Section or Subsection to Policy

Policy/Agency Accreditation -

Accreditation is achieved by meeting certain standards/guidelines as dictated by the governing body. It’s a type of governing body that will stand behind an agency confirming the agency’s commitment to continuous development and the professional delivery of public safety services. Agencies may earn discounts from the governing body for achieving accreditation or just be given a higher ranking/level of excellence to an Agency which also looks better in court appearances or press releases, community, etc.

If you are interested in learning more about accreditation, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager.