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A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
Just how many outstanding warrants are out there? Here are the current estimates from a few areas.
- Topeka KS: 5,600
- Albuquerque NM: 30,000+
- Norman OK: 2,500
- Phoenix AZ: 73,500
- El Paso TX: 47,000
If you think hiring a professional is
expensive, wait till you
hire an amateur. --Red Adair
Contract
Investigators
Wanted
I am constantly looking for contract investigators in the Southwest who can help out with eyes and ears in various locations.
If you—or someone you know—is willing to help me out on an occasional basis, please call me at 1-800-256-0205 or email wbrewr@yahoo.com.
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| | NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK?
Criminal Background Investigations, Part 2
Can you really find out if an individual has a criminal conviction? Or an outstanding warrant for probation or parole violation? Failed to appear in court to answer a criminal charge? Failed to register with the sex offender registry?
While it is becoming increasingly incumbent upon employers and other agencies/organizations to conduct criminal background investigations in order to avoid legal liability, the actual process of doing so remains cumbersome, often expensive, and far from thorough.
Criminal Conviction Records
Contrary to what many low-cost background investigation companies may lead the public to believe, there is no national single-source agency to which they have access that provides criminal conviction records. The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) collects arrest and conviction information from all over the country but these records are generally only available to law enforcement agencies.
So where do you look? Many companies rely on the accuracy of previous address information provided by the applicant or subject to determine which venues to search. (Of course this information is not always accurate or complete—especially if the person has something to hide.) Even if you do have accurate information, you have to decide how far back to search and whether or not to include surrounding areas. Once you have determined which venues to search, you need to identify, locate, and search all courts and law enforcement agencies within each one.
Most venues have state, county or district, and local (municipal) courts. Criminal court cases are a matter of public record and some jurisdictions now have online databases that can be searched by name and/or social security number. However, even court cases can be difficult and time-consuming to verify, since identifying information (i.e., date of birth, social security number) is not always included in the records. One resulting danger is that companies have been held liable for taking negative action toward an individual based on incorrect information obtained during a background investigation.
Searching law enforcement agency records is even more problematic. Most venues have state, county, and local law enforcement agencies. And, although many states have some type of "open records" or "freedom of information" act, some do not. New Jersey, for example, is not an open records state. Even when states have enacted open records legislation, law enforcement agencies vary considerably as to the types of reports they will release to non-law enforcement requestors. Many of these agencies do not include information on outstanding wants and warrants. Criminal history checks usually only return conviction information.
Wants and Warrants
Warrant records are public information and, in some venues, outstanding warrants can be found in online databases. The problem with obtaining warrant information is in knowing where to find it. If an individual has one or more outstanding warrants in a city or county that does not show up in his or her address history, there has been—until now—no way to find out about it.
The good news is that there is a new tool that is available to professional investigators that provides us with extensive access to wants and warrants records. Not only does this new resource contain warrant information for major (extraditable) crimes such as murder, rape, and drug trafficking, it also includes information on lesser felony and misdemeanor warrants, FTAs (failure to appear), and absconder warrants, as well as failure to register with the sex offender registry. Misdemeanor warrant information even includes traffic, unpaid fines, and bad check charges. It is often the petty criminals who manage to avoid apprehension, are able to continue committing crimes in multiple jurisdictions, and—because they do not show up in court—may keep these incidents off of their records.
Finding out about an outstanding warrant or the fact that someone failed to register with the sex offender registry can lead to the discovery of criminal records that might otherwise go undetected for many reasons, such as the location of the incident not being included in the person's address history, human or computer error on the part of the court or law enforcement agency, or lack of corroborating identifying information. An added benefit to the new database is that some warrant records also include identifying information (e.g., full names, full dates of birth, physical descriptions, and last known addresses). Sometimes they even contain photographs. This information is valuable in itself but it can also be very helpful in confirming unverified records from other sources.
No database is either exhaustive or perfect and this one may contain inactive warrants; however, there is a built-in safeguard, in that contact information for the issuing agency is provided, which allows us to confirm the status and accuracy of each warrant.
As long as employers and other companies are going to continue to be held legally responsible for conducting criminal background investigations, the resources for obtaining more complete and accurate information need to be developed. This new wants and warrants database is a major advance in that direction.
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