Background Checks we do them
Scott Patterson (scottpat@NETDOOR.COM)
Tue, 30 Mar 1999 23:28:14 -0600
Over the past 10 years my father (retired special agent) and I have
performed hundreds of background checks for various agencies. I wish that
it was as easy as picking up the phone and calling one location to get
information about a person for the past 5, 10 or 20 years, it is not.
To find out if a person has an arrest record you must contact every law
enforcement agency and court in the city, county and state that the person
lives in or has lived in. Very seldom are crimes (unless violent or sexual)
reported to other agencies or courts, even in the same county!
A good example is the area that I live in. We have 3 counties that all
share common boarders. All three have good size towns and cities each with
its own police force, sheriffs department and court system. To find out
what a person has done we have to go to each police department, sheriffs
department and municipal court in each town and then to the county court in
each county.
And then we start interviewing neighbors and friends and the list goes on.
We charge on the average $1200 for a complete background on a person.
My point is, it is not easy to do. We should not give our self's a false
security just because one source said a person is not a sex offender or a
violent criminal. If you are looking for a good way to check a person out,
call references and then ask the reference for someone else that might know
this person. This is called a developed reference, and you learn the most
from them.
Good luck
YiS
Scott Patterson
scottpat@netdoor.com
