National Identity Card: a built in background check?
A new method to conduct
background checks on citizens
Article in slate magazine:
In a December 2002 Newsweek column, Brill laid out a potential solution to the twin fears gripping the nation: the anxiety about aviation security and the anxiety about the government's incompetence and tendency to violate privacy. A private-sector company should develop a sort of national identification card, he wrote. The company could sign people up, gather fingerprints, ask the government to perform background checks, and then issue special cards that would allow the prescreened holders to pass through dedicated lines at airports and buildings. The machines through which the cards would be swiped would also be equipped with biometric technology to read fingerprints or iris scans. Following the
publication of After in the spring of 2003, Brill decided to launch such a company himself.
Read Morebackground checksnational id card
Football Players are all criminals
Not really. But check out this article about
background checks laws affecting NFL Europe. Seems they can't follow the "strict" background checks in affect for anyone entering school property. How many football players, coaches, assistants are registered sex offenders? Is the recent scandal involving the Minnesota Vikings just the tip of the iceberg? Perhaps a strict new law about background checks should expand to anyone include anyone who appears on TV at the same time as Sunday morning cartoons.
A new law requiring strict background checks for those who regularly come onto school property has forced six NFL Europe teams to abandon high school fields and locker rooms they used for preseason training camps and look for new facilities.
The Jessica Lunsford Act, which took effect Sept. 1, requires fingerprinting and background checks for contractors, vendors, sports referees and others who regularly go onto school property. The law is named after the 9-year-old Homosassa girl who was kidnapped and slain, allegedly by a registered sex offender who had briefly worked at her school as a mason's assistant.
The teams will move preseason practices to fields owned by Hillsborough County, the University of Tampa and the University of South Florida, league officials said Thursday.
''We are keeping all the teams in Tampa Bay,'' NFL spokesman Pete Abitante said. ``The area has been a great place for training camp.''
The six teams bring an estimated 750 players, coaches, scouts and other officials to the area.
They used facilities at King and Jefferson high schools, Dunedin High School and Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg and Boca Ciega High School in Pinellas County for their February workouts.
''We are bound by the law,'' Hillsborough County public schools spokesman Steve Hegarty said. ``We are sorry they feel they can no longer use our facilities.''
Players arrive Feb. 10, with full squad practice beginning Feb.
NFL Europebackground checksMinnesota Vikings
The Ukrainians are Coming
Belarus Cracks Down on Online Dating MINSK, Belarus — Belarusian lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation that would crack down on Internet dating and online spouse searches in the latest in a series of stringent government controls backed by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Maybe they got upset about all those website promoting Russian wives. No sense in working hard every day for your rubles and fifth of vodka, only to come home and find your wife has been packed off to Torrance, California, care of Russianwives.com
ukraine
And so the road goes on
Found some new search directorylists today: Check out this
search directory submission list. Then we also decided to research possible submissions for
Human Recources and Recruiting optionsThe woods are lovely dark and deep but I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep. and miles to go before I sleep.
The work goes further and farther, onwards and upwards.
Why Employee Fraud could happen to you
Another
recent article discusses the rise of fraud and theft perpetrated by company insiders. Employers should be aware of the potential exposure they have from employees, especially if they haven't conducted thorough background checks on new hires, as well as follow up background checks on employees who have promoted to higher positions of trust and authority. Corra Group recommends combining
a nationwide criminal database search with at least
one hand-pulled criminal record search in the candidates last county of residence.
Survey on economic crime found that nearly half of all businesses have been victimized by fraud in the past two years.
By Daniel Kehrer
Question: A fellow entrepreneur confided recently that he suspected a trusted employee of stealing from his business. Then another business owner I know was hit with check fraud. It got me thinking how vulnerable we are to different types of theft or fraud, from both inside and out. What can be done?
-- FEELING VULNERABLE
Answer: The facts on fraud are frightening. "Rising economic crime poses a growing threat to business,"
Remove the worry and start ordering
background checks. Corra Group can offer you reliable background checks as well as a customized screening policy for your and compliance with the FCRA.
LIVESCAN fingerprinting saves your tax dollars
I find it strange that livescan fingerprinting actually made the news in Washington. This is old technology that's been around in California for several years. Furthermore, the state has outsourced the ability to statewide vendors who
efficiently fingerprint any applicants for bonded state officials as well as
employee background checks. We wish Washington good luck with the new technology.
MARIETTA - The Washington County Sheriff's Department is now equipped with technology that will increase the efficiency of background check services offered to the public.
For the past several years, the sheriff's department has offered background checks that use fingerprints to check an individual's criminal history, said Sheriff Larry Mincks. The service is used by many employers in the county who wish to ensure that the person they are hiring is trustworthy, he said.
Until now, the process was time-consuming and inefficient. Sheriff's officials had to take fingerprints using ink and paper methods and send them to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The service involved a great deal of paper work and there was a significant waiting period while the request was processed, Mincks said.
Now, the sheriff's office will use a digital fingerprint scanner. This will virtually eliminate the paper work involved and result in faster results, Mincks said.
fingerprints
Background checks for Volunteer Groups
When the New Year arrives, every member of the staff at the United Methodist Church of La Mirada and every Sunday School teacher, counselor and volunteer will have undergone a background check.
It's just one of the policies instituted by the La Mirada church and all of the United Methodist churches in Southern California, Guam, Hawaii and Saipan as part of an effort to stem any sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church from occurring in United Methodist churches.
"We'd like the community to know that if they bring their children to our Sunday School, we're doing everything we can to ensure your children are safe at our church," said Linda Tremain, a member of the La Mirada church's Safe Sanctuary Committee that wrote up its plan.
"We've never had a problem at our church, but we are protecting ourselves," Tremain said.
The "Safe Sanctuary" policy - set by the California Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church was instituted after its insurance company required it.
That's a good thing, said John Hergesheimer, lay leader for the East Whittier United Methodist Church.
"It is a kick in the pants that we needed," Hergesheimer said. "We all have the sense we're playing catch up. We see it as a moral imperative."
The policies at all of the churches will include background checks, safety procedures such as having two or more non-related adults present in a classroom or at an activity and development of an ongoing education plan.
"We believe the Christian faith calls us to offer both hospitality and protection to the little ones, the children," said Larry Hygh, communications director for the California Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church, "The
Social Principles of The United Methodist Church" state that children must be protected from economic, physical, emotional, and sexual exploitation and abuse."
The La Mirada church also will have doors with windows and the ability to look into classes from the outside. Youth counseling will be done in a public or other visibly observable location and the adult teachers will have to be at least five years older than the oldest participant.
Whittier-area church officials say they haven't had any problems with sexual abuse scandals, but that doesn't mean the Methodist Church hasn't had problems.
There have been news reports about scandals in Detroit and Long Beach.
Hergesheimer said he's not surprised that the Methodist Church also would have problems.
"There's no reason Protestants should have an advantage," Hergesheimer said. "You just have to figure that when people are inclined to molest kids they are going to seek settings which kids trust adults. What better places than schools, youth organizations and churches?"
The East Whittier United Methodist Church is in the planning stages for its "Safe Sanctuary" policy, Hergesheimer said.
On Monday, the church's leadership council will vote on a proposed plan.
The policy would include requiring background checks on staff and volunteers who deal with youth, guidelines on how to supervise children and procedures for handling complaints.
Prevention is the best method of damage control. Not only do background checks minimize your exposure to negligent hiring lawsuits, they also eliminate the loss of good will as your crisis management team works overtime to repair the damage in the hearts and minds of your customers.
Order a comprehensive background check from Corra Group.
Why Motor Vehicle Records (MVR) Searches are Important
Anyone driving for you should have their
Motor Vehicle Records (MVR)Search checked regularly. These records can sometimes reveal DUI (driving under the influence charges which otherwise do not appear to county criminal records.
See current article at WTSP news:
Clearwater, Florida - Lucia Bone of Dallas, Texas has dedicated her life to the memory of her sister Sue Weaver.
She's trying to keep what happened to her sister in Orlando, from happening to other people across the country.
Lucia Bone, President Sue Weaver Cause:
"It's in memory of my sister who was raped and murdered by a twice convicted sex offender who had been hired to do service work in her home."
Now Bone is trying to get notification laws passed which would force companies to tell consumers if they do, or do not do background checks on their delivery people.
Bone says Home Depot for example, does do background checks on all of its delivery employees.
Lucia Bone:
"We're hoping that the awareness from consumers will also force employers to understand they have a moral and legal obligation to their clients to do background checks to make sure that their clients are safe."
Bone says if you're going to have something delivered to your home, make sure the store does background checks on all of its delivery people and try to have someone else there with you when the item is delivered.
Lucia Bone:
"If you're a young mother, or a mother period, with children, don't be home alone with the children because the perpetrator might use the children's life as a means to get you to do something."
Bone spoke to pre-employment screeners at their annual conference in Clearwater. These screeners say more background checks for all delivery people is long overdue.
Daphne Large, Pre-Employment Screener:
"It's something they should be doing already. The negligent hiring potential lawsuits are far going to outweigh any initial cost and it's very inexpensive to do."
Bone says Florida lawmakers introduced a bill on background checks for delivery people last session but it didn't get very far. She's hoping legislators will pass the notification bill next session.
Is Santa Claus a Pervert?
Gordon writes in
Daily Planet:
Christmas is the time of year when we like to spend our time with our children, friends and family. At least, that is how the story goes, and for the most part it is pretty true. We forget last year’s tribulations, the traffic jams and crowded stores. We fill our cars with ever-precious gasoline and our spirits with holiday cheer, and then we head off to the mall. We do a little shopping, trying to avoid the crazies who in increasing frequency are ready to do physical battle over the fad gift of the moment.
We stand in line for what seems like forever, juggling shopping bags and restive children, waiting our chance for a few minute conference with none other than the Big Guy from the North Pole, Santa Claus. There he sits on his gilded throne, amid all the blinking lights and Christmas décor. He is assisted by his helpers, who less often these days are midgets or dwarves, posing as elves. Midgets and dwarves allegedly scare the kiddies. The scene is fully nostalgic, resplendent with your own childhood memories. Your children are so anxious to sit and tell Santa what they want for Christmas, they can barely stand it. And here, amid the fake snow and the holiday festivities, it never occurs to you that Santa Claus may be a pervert.
That’s right. Despite all good intentions, your favorite mall may have mistakenly hired a child molester, whose recent residential address may have been the state penitentiary and not the North Pole. And you think you should be concerned about your child’s fear of midgets and dwarves. The truth is, that very lap where you place your child to declare his holiday wishes may actually belong to a pedophile.
To support this claim, CBS News recently had one of its staff impersonate a convicted felon and child molester. The staff member applied in five Los Angeles malls, under the name of the actual felon. The felon was a man who was registered along with 63,000 sickos on what is commonly known as “Meagan’s List.” He was hardly a well-kept secret. And yet all five shopping malls hired the man to be their Santa Claus. Later, when confronted with the issue, one man claimed to have run a free pre-employment background check that is generally good for nothing. The others mumbled lame excuses that, when translated logically, meant they probably had not run any kind of pre-employment background check.
In other malls throughout the country, those responsible do conduct pre-employment background checks, along with drug testing. The good news is, employers like Santa Plus, of Fallon, Missouri, which screens the 500 Santas it places in 250 malls, in 46 states, do conduct background checks. However, by some accounts, 70 out of every 1000 applicants for the Santa or Santa’s helper jobs have a felony record of some sort. That is approximately seven percent of those screened. They may also be applying to the malls and services that don’t do any background checking. They may be like the staff member of CBS, who, while posing as a child molester, got hired anyway. At five different malls. In the case of CBS, their guy was an imposter, helping to work a feature story. In the other cases, they are the real thing.
I know this is terrible. But if it ended there, we could almost be grateful. . Perhaps the larger question is, who are what are you having over for the holidays? Are you not doing the same thing as the shopping malls when you are thinking of dating someone without first checking him out? I know, your new Mr. Possible seems perfectly lovely on the Internet, and he is charming on the telephone. It is the holiday season. You feel lonely. It would be nice to share the holidays with someone who shows the potential for romance. But a confidence man, a criminal, or a pedophile, has had lots of practice at disarming his pray. Winning you over is what his life is all about. Getting to your wallet; getting to your children. They are good at it.
This is not to suggest you investigate old Uncle Fred, although it’s not always a bad idea. It is to suggest, however, that if you are a single woman, especially a single parent, and you are using the singles and online dating sites, you had best run an online dating background check on your potential paramours. Not only does an online singles background check help protect you from theft of goods, confidence scams, identity theft and your own risk of physical harm, but most importantly, it helps protect your children from the kind of strangers they should never meet.
Remember, Check Him Out Before You Date Him.
Criminal checks, M.D.
SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed legislation Monday requiring medical schools to perform criminal background checks on prospective students.
The law, which takes effect immediately, requires new medical school students to undergo fingerprinting and have the Illinois State Police check their past for violent felonies like murder.
During floor debate in November, state Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Matteson, the measure's sponsor, argued potentially violent medical students could easily come into contact with the public.
"When going to medical school, you are in contact with the public. As an intern, you are in the hospital," said Kelly, who noted the investigations will be nationwide.
Committing crimes doesn't bar people from becoming doctors, but the new law protects schools from lawsuits if the background check leads to a candidate being turned down.
Medical schools can charge students for the investigation. The proposal has the support of the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois University medical schools.
While checking healthcare worker's backgrounds for felonies is important, Medical Schools and healthcare employers may also want to consider conducting additional background checks as part of a comprehensive
pre-employment screening program. A
Healthcare Sanctions Report searches US Dept. of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General's database for individuals and businesses excluded or sanctioned from participating in Medicare, Medicaid, or other Federally funded health care programs. This search is invaluable for healthcare industry candidates.
The J Date From Hell
FROM THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS--
First he took her to a fancy French restaurant on the upper West Side, then he took her to the cleaners. A 65-year-old married man from Brooklyn turned out to be the Internet date from hell for a widow who was looking for love - but instead found a con man who scammed her out of $100,000, prosecutors charged. Investigators believe there are more victims of Alan Sarner, who allegedly used the computer in his Sheepshead Bay apartment to transform himself from a married retiree into a phony investment banker looking to fleece lonely women....
On their first date at the Cafe des Artistes restaurant on the upper West Side, Sarner pitched a get-rich-quick deal for a company on the verge of curing leukemia, according to prosecutors. Within a month, Lynn allegedly gave Sarner three checks totaling $100,000.
We at
Corra Group are constantly warning people against the predators stalking the online dating sites and dating clubs. They are out there, feeding on the hopes and wishes of many, and the desperation of most. In fact, recently I was compelled to write an article,
"Meet the New Mr. Goodbar," addressing this very issue. What disturbs us is that for a couple of bucks you can run a background check on someone's criminal and financial records and find out if they are for real. A few bucks of prevention is worth, in this case, losing $100,000, to say nothing of the humiliation and the embarrassment. And in the extreme cases you risk physical harm and and even death. So, as we say at Corra,
"Check Them Out Before You Date Them."
