Command Hierarchy

Understanding Command Hierarchy

The Command Hierarchy feature enables agency administrators to model their agency's command structure and use it as a single source of truth across all Axon products. Command Hierarchy provides Axon products, like Axon Evidence and Axon Performance, with the hierarchy context to drive permissions, workflows, reports, and team configurations.

The Command Hierarchy reflects the command structure of the agency, with a hierarchical tree of command levels, starting with the agency group at the top. Agency administrators can add groups to the Command Hierarchy for each command level in the organization to form a hierarchical tree that represents their organizational structure.

This article has information on:

  • Command Hierarchy Permissions
  • Creating a Command Hierarchy for the first time
  • Editing an existing Command Hierarchy

Command Hierarchy Permissions

The Command Hierarchy feature has three role permissions in Axon Evidence:

  • Manage Command Hierarchy: Allows a user to add, edit, or remove groups from the Command Hierarchy. This includes importing groups using a CSV file. The Manage Command Hierarchy permission requires that the role has the Create/Edit Groups permission set to Allowed.
  • Access evidence in their Command: Allows a user to perform an action (view, edit, etc.) on evidence where the evidence group is set to their Command Hierarchy group or a subordinate (child) group.
  • Access evidence uploaded by users in their Command: Allows a user to perform an action (view, edit, etc.) on evidence that was uploaded by users in their Command Hierarchy group and subordinate (child) groups.

Both permissions require that the role has the appropriate Evidence Management permissions (View Unrestricted Evidence, View Restricted Evidence, View Confidential Evidence, Apply and Remove Access Class, Edit and Edit Evidence Group) set to their group.

Creating a Command Hierarchy

Command Hierarchy can be created in Axon Evidence manually or by a CSV import. Command Hierarchy can also be created by using the Axon Evidence Partner API. See the Axon Evidence Partner API Guide for information on using API with Command Hierarchy.

Command Hierarchy uses groups to create the agency hierarchy by adding a top-level group, then adding child (subordinate) groups below the top-level group. Additional groups are then added below the initial groups. Groups can be moved and edited as needed to reflect your agency’s command structure.

Once you have created your Command Hierarchy, use the Editing a Command Hierarchy procedure to make changes to your Command Hierarchy.

Manually Creating a Command Hierarchy

Watch this video to learn how to create a command hierarchy.

  1. On the menu bar, click Admin and then, under Users, click Command Hierarchy.
  2. Click Build Command Hierarchy.
  3. Type the name of the first group you want to add.
    • If your agency already has existing groups, when you begin typing the group name, a list of existing groups is shown. Select a group name to add that group.
  4. After adding the first group, click a + icon at the appropriate level to add a new child group. Type the group name. If your agency already has existing groups, when you begin typing the group name, a list of existing groups is shown. Select a group name to add that group.
    Alternately, you can use the ... (More Actions) menu on the right side of a group line to add a new child group. The More Actions menu also allows you to:
    • Edit the name of a group
    • Remove a child group from the hierarchy
    • Add a new top-level group (only available at the top level).
      You can also use the Move Groups option to move groups after adding them:
      • Click Move Groups, select the groups you want to move, and then click Move To. Child groups are automatically selected when their parent group is selected.
        In the Move Groups section on the right side of the page, choose the parent group for the selected groups and click Move Here.
  5. When you have completed adding your groups, click Close.

Importing a Command Hierarchy

You can create your command hierarchy in Axon Evidence by using a CSV file to import group information.

If your Axon Evidence account already has existing Groups, you can export the group information as a CSV file and edit the file to build your hierarchy. If you do not have groups set up, you can use the import groups functionality to add groups and build your hierarchy at the same time.

Watch this video to learn how to import a command hierarchy.

Exporting and Editing a CSV File

Watch this video to learn how to export and edit a CSV file.

Use this process if you already have groups in Axon Evidence:

  1. On the menu bar, click Admin and then, under Users, click Groups.
  2. On the groups page, click Export Results.
  3. Select Groups and click Export. A CSV file with all the groups in your agency is downloaded.
  4. Open the exported CSV file.
  5. Add the hierarchy information in the PARENT_EXTERNAL_ID column:
    • For the top-level group, enter head in the PARENT_EXTERNAL_ID column.
    • For child (subordinate) groups, enter the EXTERNAL_ID value for the parent group in the PARENT_EXTERNAL_ID column.

      Image showing an example CSV file download.

    Example: In the example CSV file above:

    • Agency is the top-level group and has head in the PARENT_EXTERNAL_ID column.
    • District 1 is subordinate to Agency and has 13 (the EXTERNAL_ID for Agency) in the PARENT_EXTERNAL_ID column.
    • Group Able is subordinate to District 1 Groups and has 13-D1-G (the EXTERNAL_ID for District 1 Groups) in the PARENT_EXTERNAL_ID column.

  6. Save the CSV file. Go to the Importing a CSV File process below.

Creating a CSV File

Use this process if you do not have existing groups in Axon Evidence:

  1. On the menu bar, click Admin and then, under Users, click All Groups.
  2. On the Groups page, click Import Groups.
  3. With the Import Option set to Create groups or Synchronize groups, click Download Example File to save the example CSV file to your computer.
  4. Make a copy of the ImportGroups.csv file and assign it a meaningful file name. This new file is your groups CSV file.
  5. Open the CSV file.
  6. Delete the second, third, and fourth rows. Do not delete the first row. Evidence.com expects the first row to contain the column names.
  7. For every group that you want to add, include a row in the file that specifies values for the group, as described in the following table. Ensure that each value is in the cell beneath the applicable header.
  8. Save the CSV file. Go to the Importing a CSV File process.
CSV File for Importing Groups

The CSV file for importing groups must contain a header row and must have three columns. A sample ImportGroups.csv file is available on the Import Groups page. The following table describes the required values in the CSV file for importing groups:

Column Header Value Value
A EXTERNAL_ID External group ID — A unique value that identifies the group. This ID should be persistent and unchanging for the life of the group. The ID is assigned by your organization. It is recommended that you determine a group ID strategy that best suits your needs. If you are manually synchronizing the groups in your Evidence.com agency with groups in another application, you may want to use an ID value provided by the other application, such as a GUID. To find the external group ID for an existing group, view the Group Profile page for the group. You can also simply assign a descriptive name. Valid external group IDs can be up to 255 characters.
B NAME Group title — A meaningful name for the group. Because the EXTERNAL_ID value provides the persistent identifier for the group, you can change the NAME value as needed. Valid group titles can be up to 128 characters.
C SHARE_ACCESS Sets the access levels for the group and corresponds to the Manage Access Settings. Valid values are the following three words:
  • FORBIDDEN: The group cannot be added to any access lists. This corresponds to the No access setting.
  • INTERNAL: The group can be added to evidence access lists inside your agency, but partner agencies will not see the group in their access lists. This corresponds to the Inside my agency access setting.
  • ANY: The group can be added to access lists inside your agency, and partner agencies will see and can add the group in their access lists. This corresponds to the Partner agency access setting.
D PARENT_EXTERNAL_ID The EXTERNAL_ID value for this group’s parent group. If this is the top-level group, the value should be head.

 

Importing a CSV File

  1. On the menu bar, click Admin and then, under Users, click All Groups.
  2. On the groups page, click Import Groups.
  3. On the Import Groups page, select Synchronize groups.
  4. Click Select File and select the CSV file with your group and hierarchy information.
  5. Click Upload.
  6. When the upload is complete, click Command Hierarchy and confirm the hierarchy has been updated.

Editing a Command Hierarchy

Command Hierarchy can be edited in Axon Evidence manually or by importing changes in a CSV file. Command Hierarchy can also be edited by using the Axon Evidence Partner API.

Watch this video to learn how to edit a command hierarchy.

Manually Editing a Command Hierarchy

  1. On the menu bar, click Admin and then, under Users, click Command Hierarchy.
  2. Click Edit.
  3. Click a + icon at the appropriate level to add a new child group.
  4. Type the group name.
    • If your agency already has existing groups, when you begin typing the group name, a list of existing groups is shown. Select a group name to add that group.
  5. Alternately, you can use the ... (More Actions) menu on the right side of a group line to:
    • Add a new child group
    • Edit the name of a group
    • Remove a child group from the hierarchy
    • Add a new top-level group (only available at the top level)
  6. You can also use the Move Groups option to move groups after adding them:
    • Click Move Groups, select the groups you want to move, and then click Move To.
    • Child groups are automatically selected when their parent group is selected.
  7. In the Move Groups section on the right side of the page, choose the parent group for the selected groups and click Move Here.
  8. When you have completed adding your groups, click Close.

Importing Updates for a Command Hierarchy

  1. On the menu bar, click Admin and then, under Users, click Groups.
  2. On the groups page, click Export Results.
  3. Select Groups and click Export. A CSV file with all the groups in your agency is downloaded.
  4. Open the exported CSV file.
  5. Add the hierarchy information in the PARENT_EXTERNAL_ID column:
    • For the top-level group, enter head in the PARENT_EXTERNAL_ID column.
    • For child (subordinate) groups, enter the EXTERNAL_ID value for the parent group in the PARENT_EXTERNAL_ID column.
  6. Save the CSV file.
  7. On the menu bar, click Admin and then, under Users, click All Groups.
  8. On the groups page, click Import Groups.
  9. On the Import Groups page, select Synchronize groups.
  10. Click Select File and select the CSV file with your group and hierarchy information.
  11. Click Upload.
  12. When the upload is complete, choose Command Hierarchy and confirm the hierarchy has been updated.