We’re going to evacuate you, but first …
During the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, lots of criminals wound up among good people on buses and in shelters. Still others used the occasion as an opportunity to get out of town and not come back. In Texas they think they have a solution for both those problems. The Houston Chronicle story headlined: "Next time, evacuees subject to criminal checks," leads with the following. "Texans seeking to escape the next hurricane or state emergency by evacuation bus will first be submitted to criminal background checks, the state's emergency management director says." There are several different ways you might [...]
SAT scores, transcript, background check
I've got a nephew who's going to college with the help of several scholarships. Those scholarships are contingent on good behavior. If he gets arrested for something like underage drinking, for example, his scholarships can be pulled. Many colleges have similar policies. Now some college administrators are thinking about criminal background checks as part of the admissions process. KHTV in Little Rock, Arkansas, reports that "What you do as a kid could soon determine your future. Because of violent incidents, like the Virginia Tech shootings, some colleges and universities are considering adding background checks to the admission process. And even [...]
Thinking about using Facebook or MySpace for background checks?
The SmartMoney web site has lots of good advice for job seekers. But in an article titled "Facebook Profiles Can Foil Job Searches" I found some good advice for employers, especially those considering using the social networking sites for part of background check on younger applicants. Jeanine DeBacker, an employment lawyer with Wendel Rosen Black & Dean in Oakland, Calif., says she often cautions her clients — employers and their human-resource managers concerned about the legality of conducting online background screenings of potential employees — 'to remember that people coming into the work force don't always know the proper way [...]
Sometimes all you can do is chuckle: John Mark Karr
Fox News reports that John Mark Karr is serious about proving that he has no convictions in Alabama, where he asked for a background check from the Birmingham Police Department. It seems like only yesterday, but it was actually a year ago that John Mark Carr was all over the news. You may recall that he confessed to killing little JonBenet Ramsey in Boulder, Colorado ten years before. Since Karr was in Thailand at the time, the confession got him a flight home at US expense and we got to see pictures of him sipping a cool drink during the [...]
Even the police chief should follow the rules
Poulan, GA is a very small town just to the east of Albany, where the chief of police is in trouble over a background check. The Albany Herald, in a story headlined: "Poulan police chief suspended," reports the following. Poulan’s top police official has been suspended after officials say she may have used her power as police chief to snoop on a City Council member. Angie Schlosser has been suspended with pay pending a full investigation into an alleged incident where she ran a background check on Councilman Van Jones, Poulan City Attorney Tommy Coleman said. I'm sure there are [...]