The problem with police record searches

This article from the Tennessean is an example of the problem with state police checks across the country, not just in Tennessee. Many courts believe the Sheriff is responsible for reporting to the state police. The sheriff was not aware. So many many crimes are not reported to the State Police.

Here is the story from Tennessee…

A state audit has found that confusion, lack of cooperation and enforcement has led to the TBI not knowing the disposition of many arrests. TBI runs background checks, including those for teachers in the state school districts and for gun buyers.

“There is all sorts of confusion, really,” said performance auditor Dean Agouridis, of the state comptroller’s office. “This is a repeat finding, an ongoing issue. Levying fines is a possibility. You can’t run a background check on an allegation. It has to be a formalized disposition.”

Of 2,248,827 arrests in Tennessee between February 2001 and September 2008, 41 percent lacked a disposition, according to TBI management.

And that’s an improvement. There were no dispositions reported for 77 percent of the 1,958,781 arrests between 1995 and 2003, according to the audit dated Sept. 25.

“Without accurate and up-to-date arrest disposition information, bureau activities such as background checks for law enforcement agencies and routine civil applicant and gun purchase background checks can be unnecessarily delayed or come to an erroneous conclusion,” the audit states.

Confusion stems from a longstanding argument about whether court clerks or sheriffs’ departments are responsible for sending dispositions to the TBI, according to state auditors.

But the state Administrative Office of the Courts claims that, under law, the responsibility falls to law enforcement, meaning that sheriffs should be sending the information. Laura Click, spokeswoman for the state’s court system, said that a different interpretation of the law by both sides is the problem.

Click also noted that court clerks are either elected or appointed to their positions and they are not under the purview of the administrative offices of the court.

And each county’s criminal court has its own practice.  Click here to read the rest of the story

The Dangers of Using the Internet to Conduct Pre-Employment Screening

An article from CNN, highlights the dangers of using internet sites to conduct pre-employment screening. It also highlights the dangers of the supposed, “National Criminal Record Search”. The only way to conduct fair, accurate criminal record checks is county by county. CIR has issued warnings of the dangers of using internet sites for background screening. This shows how many holes are in these “national criminal files”.  Save your money for coffee.

Background check missed suspected shooter’s prison stint

(‘March 11, 2010 — Updated 0200 GMT March 10, 2010 9:00 p.m. EST

Police say Nathaniel Brown opened fire on his co-workers at a university maintenance building.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Background check performed in September 2009 turned up no criminal record

Ohio newspaper says shooting suspect spent five years in prison between 1979 and 1984

School president said hiring procedures will be evaluated in wake of the shooting

(CNN) — A background check conducted in 2009 on an Ohio State University employee suspected of opening fire Tuesday on his co-workers turned up no criminal record, even though he apparently served five years in prison.

The background check, released by the university Wednesday, was performed by third-party vendor OPENonline in September 2009 after shooting suspect Nathaniel Brown applied for a job as a janitor in the school’s Facilities Operations & Development Department.

Under the criminal records section, the check shows “No records found” nationally or locally. A check by CNN on Wednesday by a different vendor also revealed no criminal past. However, according to The Columbus-Dispatch, records show Brown spent five years in prison between 1979 and 1984 for receiving stolen property.

To read the completed article, please click here

Criminal record checks should be conducted county by county. CIR offers complimentary Department of Correction Records to increase the depth of our background screens.

Is it okay to steal a pencil from work?

From the Conference Board Review is a very interesting article regarding theft at work. Does everyone steal from their employer?

Workers Behaving Badly

Where do you draw the line?

VADIM LIBERMAN is senior editor of TCB Review. He has not taken home any paper clips…this week.

This article is written for workplace miscreants who steal from, lie to, bribe on behalf of, and deceive their bosses and businesses. Not you, of course. Not only is the angel on your left shoulder restraining Satan on the other side—page thirty-four in the company manual forbids such hijinks.

But ask yourself: Have you ever slipped a pencil from your desk into your purse? Ever surfed the Internet in the office to check the score of this afternoon’s game? Dropped a holiday package in the mailroom outbox? If you answered no to all the above, congratulations! You’d be the ideal ethically pure executive—that is, if your no weren’t an outright lie…

…Regardless, even though workers are behaving better these days, don’t delude yourself into thinking that a recession has produced some ethical utopia. Though the ERC research indicates that the number of employees who observed workplace misconduct is down 7 points from 56 percent two years ago, that still means nearly half of all workers have witnessed lying, privacy breaches, expense- and timesheet falsifications, improper hiring practices, and company-resource abuse. So get ready, because when the economy recovers, who knows what a bursting ethics bubble will release? —V.L.

To read the rest of the article, click here

Winter 2010 By VADIM LIBERMAN | ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN STAUFFER/THEISPOT.COM

New Service-MyRecordCheck.com

Carolina Investigative Research now provides a criminal record search for the public. Please visit www.myrecordsearch.com This site allows consumers to order a background on themselves to check what is on the public record. The search is conducted by licensed private investigators. For those interested in a NC criminal records, a link is provided to conduct a criminal record search.  Coming Soon, an Instant NC criminal record “check”.

Visit us at MyRecordCheck.

NC Criminal Record

The Unintended Impact of Criminal Record Checks

The recent phenomenon of background screening college students is explored in this article. This is a very interesting point. Criminal record checks are viewed as a barrier to higher education. Education  is viewed as a way of poverty and the life of poverty,  including crime. We encourage prisoners to obtain their college degrees while incarcerated.  If felons are not able to rehabilitate and have a life beyond their conviction, we as a society need to re-evaluate our priorities.

Present Day Disparate Impact: Criminal Records, Higher Education and Collateral Consequences

In recent years colleges and universities have increasingly used an applicant’s prior criminal conviction as a basis to deny admission.  The growth of this practice threatens to undermine the gains achieved through the hard-fought efforts of the civil rights movement.  Because racial disparities infect every aspect of the criminal justice system in the U.S., the use of a criminal conviction to bar admission to college has a disproportionate racial impact on communities of color.  In effect policies that restrict admissions based upon a criminal record result in excluding more persons of color who disproportionately make up the population of the criminal justice system.  In short, exclusions for prior conviction become a surrogate for race-based exclusions. The rationale for criminal background screenings in college admission is campus safety. Legislative action directed at campus crime began in 1991 with Congressional passage of the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act (known as the Clery Act) that required colleges and universities to track and report campus crime statistics.  Data reported in compliance with the Clery Act requirements show that crime on campuses is far lower than in the general community. The U.S. Department of Education 2001 Report to Congress, “The Incidence of Crime on the Campuses of U.S. Post Secondary Education Institutions,” concluded that “students on the campuses of post secondary institutions [are] significantly safer than the nation as a whole.” 4 The available data and media reports suggest that crime on campus is more likely to be committed by students without criminal records rather than students with prior records.  Nonetheless, a few high profile but aberrational crimes have led to admissions policies that now require disclosure of criminal records by prospective applicants.  In 2006, the Common Application, used by more than 300 universities and colleges, added questions about both criminal convictions and school disciplinary records.  Individual colleges include such questions on their applications as well.

To read the complete article and more, visit here-Unchaining Civil Rights.

The whitepaper “Closing the Doors of Higher Education” is available from the Center for Legal Action.

The danger of being a realtor.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

From Realty Times. http://realtytimes.com/news/anpages/19980720_nightmare1.htm

This is the first of 4 articles regarding the dangers of being a real estate agent.

Every Realtor’s Nightmare: Part 1

by Mark Spencer

Editors Note: This article was originally published on November 10, 1997.

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This four-part series focuses on the personal safety issues facing the real estate professional as illustrated by the disturbing experiences and subsequent coping responses of two Realtors who each were viciously attacked while showing homes to what they assumed were prospective buyers. One stayed in the real estate business, determined to educate other Realtors how to protect themselves from similar crimes. The other left the profession, too traumatized by her ordeal to return. Also included in Mark Spencer’s informative series are life-saving tips for how Realtors — who assume considerable risk every day — can avoid becoming the next tragic statistic. Parts 1-4 will run in installments today through Thursday this week.

Neither woman ever thought it could happen. But it did.

Both of them were attacked while showing houses to a prospective buyer. Now, both of these women want to spread the word that it can happen to any real estate agent — anytime, anywhere — and that agents who take a few preventive measures now will reduce the likelihood of becoming the victim of an assault.

To read the complete article, please go here

The blog is back

Thanks to all my faithful readers. It has been awhile since I have worked on the blog. 2009 brought changes. A marriage and a grandson.  So I spent 2009 planning a wedding and knitting baby blankets, whether for my own, my relatives, or employees.  But it is all done and 2010 is free for me.

So here we go.

Why should we conduct searches on individuals in their teens?

Many of us believe that there is no reason to conduct a background check on an individual below the age of 18. The following story is an example of searching the individuals criminal record as far back as possible.

From the Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A grand jury on Wednesday indicted a 15-year-old girl on a charge of first-degree murder in the slaying of her 9-year-old neighbor.

Alyssa Bustamante is accused of killing Elizabeth Olten by strangling the victim, cutting her throat and stabbing her on Oct. 21.

Bustamante also is charged with armed criminal action for allegedly using a knife in the attack.

The indictment came hours after Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled Bustamante should face trial as an adult. She is being held without bond in Cole County jail.

The teen, who sat silently through the proceedings in an orange prison jumpsuit and handcuffs, was arrested on an adult charge of first-degree murder. She was scheduled to be arraigned later Wednesday.

To read the full story click here.