Our favorite Web sites: Running your own criminal-background check
August 5, 2008 by Jim GiulianoPosted in: Hiring, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Our favorite Web sites, Records documentation, References
A new Web site bills itself as your own personal criminal-records database that, among other things, can be used to run checks on applicants as part of checking references and other info. But does it work?
Site name: CriminalSearches.
URL: http://www.criminalsearches.com/
Who runs it: Sacramento-based PeopleFinders
What it provides: Before we get into that, let’s stipulate that when we tested the site, it advertised that it was in beta – which, as you probably know, is a “get-out-of-jail-free card” (no pun intended) for all boo-boos on the Web site. The developers admit there may be mistakes and oversights, and ask for our forbearance while they test and work things out.
Anyway, the sight is supposed to provide a search engine in which you enter a person’s name and choose any or all states in which that person may have committed a crime. Then you get a list of offenses tied to that person’s name. The offenses are coded into seven types: “Behavioral,” “Business,” “Drug & Alcohol,” Sex Related,” “Theft and Robbery,” “Violent” and “Traffic/Other.”
OK, there’s really only one way to test something like this: Enter the name and state residence of someone you know who has a criminal record, and see what you get back. So that’s what we did. Never mind who the person was, or how we know the person.
Here’s what happened: The search engine spit out the person’s name, date of birth and the date of an offense – a five-year-old traffic violation. That probably was accurate, but it overlooked and didn’t list a drug felony conviction that took place around the same time. Hmmm.
The flaw in something like this is obvious. If it’s wrong just once, the entire site loses any value to the user, although maybe it could serve as a backup to other background checks you might do. Also, we’ll underscore again that the developers clearly indicated the site was in beta, so maybe the best advice we can give is for you to check back on the site in the future and test it yourself. Of course, not that you’d know anyone with a criminal record.
Tags: applicants, CriminalSearches, PeopleFinders, References
August 8th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
one need to know how there system records areqa set up, before trying to use a online system. in LA each parish has its own records and only 3 or 4 have them online and they ony have a 3 year list in them. so we still have to go tothe court house to get a real check done. now in TX they have a great only system. so before you get in to it look as the state system and go form there. done waste money on it if you are not goingto get the real info.
August 11th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
I am a Private Investigator in Florida who speciaizes in pre-employment background checks and I too tried the criminalsearches.com web site only to find a number of errors and omissions for known criminals. I ran 5 names through the site only to find that criminalsearches.com had wrong and/or no information on all five of them. These were convicted felons by the way.
The bottom line is that people who use that site are getting what they pay for (very little) and that there is no subsitute for conducting a thorough check using multiple fee-based web sites (e.g. Lexis, IRB, Merlin, Choicepoint, etc.) AND a trip to the court house for a manual records check if necessary.
Best
A D Buck
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:39 am
There are commercially assembled criminal databases that can be helpful to employers when used by a screening firm since it may lead to further courts to search. However, any suggestion that these databases all by themselves are real background checks is just not factual. These databases are far from complete, and accurate. They can falsely label someone a criminal who is not, and can falsely clear someone who in fact has a serious criminal record. They may contain records that are not legally useable or have been set aside by a court. Not all jurisdictions are included, and even included jurisdictions do not always update records or provide date of birth for identification.
For the real story, see an article on the ESR website called, http://www.esrcheck.com/articles/Criminal_Databases.php