How-To Guides
Using Your Local Feed
Your Local Feed, on the APBnet™ Home page, gives you four ways to see what's happening near you. Here's how to switch between them and narrow down what you see.
Before you start
- Your Local Feed lives on the APBnet™ Home page — available to every user, no special role required. Don't confuse it with the Inbox's own Feed tab, which is a different feature (announcements and platform notices, not geographic activity).
- My Agency, My County, and My State work automatically — there's nothing to set up. Only Custom Region needs a one-time setup step.
Steps
- 1
Open your Local Feed from the Home page.
Four view tabs run across the top: My Agency, My County, My State, and Custom Region.
Local Feed on the Home page — the four view tabs (My Agency, My County, My State, Custom Region) across the top - 2
Choose the scope that fits what you need right now.
My Agency
Bulletins from your own agency only.
My County
Bulletins from every agency in your county. Falls back to your agency alone if a county roster isn't available.
My State
Bulletins from agencies across your state. If this tab looks empty, your agency's state isn't configured — contact your Program Admin.
Custom Region
Bulletins inside a map area you draw yourself. Set it up once in Local Feed Settings and it stays there until you change it.
- 3
Set up your Custom Region (one-time).
Click the gear icon and select Local Feed Settings. Draw your area of interest on the map the same way you would for bulletin distribution — search, center, and zoom. Save it, and the Custom Region tab reflects that area from then on until you change it.
Local Feed Settings modal — map view for drawing a Custom Region boundary - 4
Narrow any tab with the timeframe and Filters panel.
Every tab has its own timeframe (last 1, 7, or 30 days) and a Filters panel — bulletin type, priority, tags, and a photos-only option. Filters apply independently per tab, so setting them on My Agency doesn't change My County.
- 5
Switch to Grid view when you're scanning for a face or object.
List view shows one bulletin per row. Grid view pulls every photo from matching bulletins into a single scrollable photo wall — faster when you're visually scanning rather than reading.
Local Feed — Grid view showing a photo wall of bulletin images
Tips
Custom Region is a saved view, not a one-time search
Map-based search runs a single search against an area you pick in the moment. Custom Region is different — set it once in Local Feed Settings and it keeps showing new bulletins in that area every time you open the Feed.
My State empty? Check your agency profile
The My State tab depends on your agency having a state set in its profile. If it's empty, that's usually a configuration gap, not a lack of activity — flag it to your Program Admin.
Layer subscriptions on top of your feed
The Feed shows recent activity at a given scope. Subscriptions notify you the moment a bulletin matching specific criteria — a plate, a description, a case type — enters the system, whether or not it falls inside your feed's scope.
Related guides
Understanding Your Inbox
The Inbox has its own separate Feed tab for announcements — a different feature from the Local Feed on this page.
Read the guide →
Map-Based Bulletin Search
A one-time search of any area — different from a saved Custom Region feed.
Read the guide →
Setting Up Subscriptions
Layer proactive alerts on top of your feed for specific criteria.
Read the guide →
Using Clutter Controls
Keep infrequent bulletin types out of your feed without losing search access to them.
Read the guide →