| Crime is a fact of life today as it has been for | | | | it unavailable to the public (and to the media). |
| millennia. The good news is that while in the past | | | | There are many ways to go about retrieving this |
| you had to take a person's word about their | | | | information: government websites, public |
| history, today there are resources available to | | | | information hubs such as state websites and |
| ensure you've got the truth. In addition to | | | | libraries, public watchdog websites, and free and |
| marriage records, previous names, old addresses, | | | | commercial information websites. All of these |
| and educational history, criminal records have | | | | resources are an excellent way to find the |
| become a standard inclusion in a background | | | | information you're after, but some are certainly |
| check. While society is certainly full of folks who | | | | more convenient than others. For example, it is |
| just got a little wild when they were younger and | | | | much easier to conduct your own search online |
| have since cleaned up their act, any law | | | | than to request information from the FBI. |
| enforcement professional can attest that the | | | | Though these records are, as stated previously, |
| majority of crime is committed by repeat | | | | public records, there is some controversy over |
| offenders. While watching your back is always | | | | what constitutes a breach between the public's |
| sound advice, a background check can give you | | | | right to know and the individual's right to privacy. |
| the rest of the story you need to make intelligent | | | | There are some laws that restrict what can be |
| decisions about the people around you. | | | | done with the information retrieved, but these |
| In our day and age, criminal background checks | | | | laws are somewhat contradictory and difficult to |
| are common and sometimes required; many | | | | understand. The best way to ensure compliance is |
| employers will conduct a search before hiring a | | | | to use a national commercial database to retrieve |
| new employee. All states require, for example, | | | | your information. The top commercial providers |
| that prospective teachers pass a background | | | | have great advantages over the traditional |
| check before receiving their license to teach. Most | | | | government sources and free content sources |
| government positions, from the CIA to DMV | | | | online: the user is protected against any charges |
| workers, require a clean background check for | | | | that may result from obtaining or using the |
| employment. The reasons are innumerable but | | | | information retrieved. The commercial databases |
| the result is the same: more and more people are | | | | also tend to have access to more information |
| checking into the backgrounds of the folks around | | | | themselves, which in turn gives you a more |
| them. | | | | complete picture. As more commercial options |
| Criminal records, like the other information | | | | become available, the competition within the |
| mentioned previously, are public records. That | | | | industry increases, thus creating more and more |
| means that your access to the information is a | | | | reasonable pricing options for the public. Most sites |
| public right protected by law. The only exceptions | | | | are priced very economically, and the prices |
| to that law are cases involving minor children and | | | | charged are minimal in comparison to the time |
| some government officials, in which cases some | | | | saved. |
| of all of the record may be sealed thus rendering | | | | |