Who Do You "Really" Know

Its 6pm and you and your family are sitting on the couch watching television . Suddenly a news alert flashes on the set about breaking news. Another child has gone missing, and you think to yourself "how would I feel if that happen to me". Today, we are constantly scared by the media into thinking that its chaos around every corner. But statistically, the truth is that most crimes are committed upon someone by someone they know. In fact, last year 53% of identity thefts were committed by close acquaintances. Coworkers, friends, relatives are among those perpetrating these crimes. A good defense in protecting yourself against these vulnerabilities, is to perform criminal background checks on people associated with you.

Not all records are the same

Currently, there is no one single source that combines all criminal records into a database. For a complete history search of a suspect person, you will need to use various sources. The most trusted source available to local law enforcement is the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). This electronic database lists arrest records on a national basis compiled from various federal, state, and local sources. What this check will indicate, is only if an arrest was made but will not contain any specifics to the arrest. This is a common route for the general public to explore, but things such as sexual offenses can not be determined. Sexual Offender Registry Checks (SOR), are a seperate database compiled by 43 states. This database can be searched free online. For a very comprehensive search to be performed, third party services would be haved to be used. These third party sources are vender's that charge fees according to the extent of the search. The more you pay, the more information you will obtain.

Doing your own criminal checks

Many local governments are now opening criminal records to the public through online search applications. These applications are filled out by the searcher into a form on a state or local website. The information revealed to the searcher will vary locally and may not be very informative. Most likely you will not find details like history of arrest,conviction, incarceration, and court records. Although this may be a good place to start if you have any suspicions of a particular subject. Its free and only cost your time.