Instant Criminal Background Checks
Criminal Background Check - Instant Criminal Records Search
By Steve Gee
How to Do a Quick Criminal Background Check?
Interviewing can take up a lot of your time when you are trying to find the right fit for a new recruit and important things like criminal background checks can get overlooked if you are not careful. You are so busy making certain that the person has the skills that you need and the personality that will fit in with the team that the routine stuff gets forgotten. No amount of interviewing is going to tell you about a criminal history that they are trying to hide.
It's not just corporate employment where you should be careful either. What if you are commissioning some work to your house or hiring a nanny to look after your children. Don't you think that it's important to look into their background a little?
To do a thorough criminal background check on someone can be time consuming and quite difficult because there are so many different places that you have to apply to. Most of the time you don't have the time to do this let alone any inclination to do it. Unless you can give the job to someone else of course and even then you will have to wait for the results. It is possible however to do a very fast check using an online service.
Don't Forget to Ask Permission First
You are more than justified in obtaining what might be considered private information about a person when you are offering a job. The applicant may not see it this way though so you should always get their permission in writing by asking them to agree to a waiver. This will make it clear that you can not consider them for the job if you are not allowed to obtain information that might be relevant.
Don't be tempted to skip the waiver if you are an employer. It might come back to bite you later if you do. Make sure that everyone is in agreement that anything the applicant tells you can and will be checked and that other background information may be obtained.
Searching for Criminal Records
There are county court records offices and state records offices and then federal court records. Depending on the state and the individual courthouses you should be able to apply to the state offices as the county courts feed their records upwards. This can't always be relied on though so it's best to check both state and county records.
To do a proper job you need to apply to all of the records offices in the county and states where you think that the person might lived or worked recently. Those are the most likely places that you will find this person's criminal history. Of course it depends whether he did actually live or work in those places and you won't find any records for offences tried in other states.
You can also check the federal courts using the U.S. Party/Case Index or PACER. These cases tend to be the more serious kind so it's a good idea to check especially where the post you are offering is of a senior level.
Use Public Records Online to Do a Criminal Background Check Instantly
Checking for criminal history on somene sounds like a daunting task doesn't it? It can be when you carry it all through properly and it takes so long to get the results. Fortunately there is a faster way. It may not be as accurate but it is near instant and very easy to do. By using a public criminal background records web site you can do a lightning fast search of criminal records and get the results in seconds.
February 3, 2011
11:18 pm
does anyone know a web site for downloads of software that does instant criminal and background checks .?
I found out after 50 years my mother is not who i thought she was. she stole from me. may have killed my father in 1977. police cant do anything not enough proof. I need ways to find information . this has affected my life and family. she left us in financial debt, myself depressed and feeling guilty. My because my wife and children have also been affected and emotionally hurt .we are all the family we have. we have no checking accounts or credit cards or money to pursue information on her,or a background history. please help us find was to do this on the internet. My health is not good Im at home now . this is all true. if you can help to prove its true i will let yoiu know my results.
February 6, 2011
3:39 pm
Sorry to hear of your misfortune.
I don’t think there is any software you can download to access that kind of information, its private and protected by the Data Protection act.
You might be well advised to hire a private investigator to look into it for you!
February 15, 2011
8:04 pm
Do you support background checks on new gun buyers?
Should gun buyers go through background checks when they purchase a new gun? When background checks fail to stop criminals…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Instant_Criminal_Background_Check_System
February 25, 2011
8:11 pm
How long does it take for the FBI NICS to get back up online? (CCW)?
I went in today to get my CCW and I was told the site for the background check (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) was down and had been since yesterday morning. How long does it usually go down for?
February 25, 2011
9:00 pm
I know there are some in the government who are trying to do away with the rights guaranteed to us in the Constitution and they will try any means possible to do so. The 2nd Amendment gives the citizens of this country the right to keep and bear arms and that bothers the people who want to control everything we do.
These lame arguments that we don’t need firearms for protection because we have the police are a crock.
The US Supreme Court has ruled that the police do NOT have to provide protection to the citizens of this country. If the police don’t have to protect us we need to be able to protect ourselves and the best way to do that is with a weapon
February 26, 2011
5:37 pm
Is the Gov’t. trying to limit and eventually cause firearms to disappear??
The federal government is considering a series of new rules that would apply to workplaces where “explosives” are handled, giving rise to a concern that the restrictions could be used to limit – or eliminate – reasonable access to firearms ammunition.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56556
The government is using paperwork errors as small as the abbreviation of a city name to shut down some of the nation’s longest-serving gun shops, and 2nd Amendment advocates fear the right to bear arms will mean little if there’s no way to obtain a gun.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56389
The House of Representatives has fast-tracked new legislation to “improve” the National Instant Criminal Background Check System by allowing doctors to now decide who can own firearms.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56311
That’s right Micheal, you don’t know where I live or work…so how can you make the determination that I don’t need one?
OH NO!!! my rifle just jumped out of the closet and started firing at school children!!!!!
cougarball…your premise that the second amendment was for protection before police, flys in the face on the actually text, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State…..”. It doesn’t say “violent” state or ” lawless” state. It was written to make sure that the people could have redress if Gov’t got out of control.
If you look at the thinking of the times..
“War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.”
“A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.”
- Thomas Jefferson
and the DOI….
“Prudence, indeed,
will dictate that Governments long established
should not be changed for light and
transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience
hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to
suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right
themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they
are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses
and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same
Object, evinces
a Design to reduce them under
absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their
Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide
new Guards for their future Security.”
You haven’t studied the work of our forefathers well enough to be able to derive what their intent was……
February 27, 2011
3:56 am
George, I have been selling guns as dealer for over 30 years, long before the background check, and later, after the calls to NICS were law. I have seen absolutely no effect between them, other than people getting “delays” because their name resembles that of known felons. Also, as a rule, criminals don’t waltz into a gun store and pay full retail for guns. Nope, they either buy stolen guns, rent guns for specific crimes from black market rental brokers, or simply trade them for drugs. Also, why go to a gun show and pay hundreds of dollars for a semi auto AK, when he can get the real deal in full auto from a gun smuggler, and pay only a fraction of the price (AK’s can be had in central Africa for around 20 bucks US). In every US city where the gun laws are the toughest, the crime rate is the very highest.
In short, most of the firearms laws have nothing to do with crime, and yet they have everything to do with control…people control. An armed citizenry is a danger to that control.
Ask King George III, he found out the hard way.
March 3, 2011
1:38 am
This is a system that is used daily by multiple agencies. Typically, it is ONLY down late evenings for system maintenance. It should be back up on Monday when all Tech staff are back at work…
March 4, 2011
8:09 pm
5150, California, & Federal Gun Law?
Monday, March 27, 2006 (about 4 pm), almost three years ago I attempted suicide by overdose. I was 21 at the time. Anyways, here I am three years later graduated from college and working. My husband is a police officer and we go target shooting often. We are both avid hikers, climbers and campers. I would like to buy a gun for protection and target practice, but am unsure whether or not I can.
Here’s the deal. I called 911 and an ambulance and a sheriff reported to the scene. I was already regretting my stupidity and calmly accepted all medical treatment. I was admitted to the ER and treated in ICU for 24 hours and then taken to a mental health facility involuntarily for 48 hours. I was released after about 72 hours (Thursday, March 30 about 7 pm). I have never had a history of mental illness before or since.
I recently applied to be a California Youth Authority Corrections Counselor and then realized one requirement is the ability to possess and purchase a firearm. This is when I actually became concerned. I see that in California there is a five year wait period after a 5150, but federally there is a law that states if you have been held involuntarily in a mentally health facility or are deemed a “mental defective,” (which I believe includes 5150s–threat to self or others) you may never purchase or possess any firearm in any state, ever!
This seems pretty harsh and restrictive for someone like me. I am an intelligent, functioning person who did something stupid one time.
Also, I see since Virginia Tech many law enforcement agencies, hospitals, and mental health facilities give this information to the state Department of Justice, who then can give this information to the FBI and a newer database, the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System), so that this information can be on record and come up readily when determining gun ownership eligibility when purchasing a firearm.
I checked with the sheriff’s department and they do have an incident report, but I am unsure whether or not they, the hospital or the mental health facility passed notification of my 5150 to the Department of Justice and these federal agencies.
I never went to court and I have no recollection of signing any paperwork. I was treated in the hospital, then held at mental health, and released after 72 hours. That’s it.
I read an article online that California has been big on sharing mental health records with these federal agencies recently and I am wondering if anyone can shed light in my dilemma. Do I even have to wait five years at all? And if so, can I purchase a gun after my five years is up? Or will my 5150 come up with the the FBI and/or NICS during the background check and wait period?? Should I try to get copies of my medical records or sheriff dept. records? Should I contact the Department of Justice?
Has anyone else had a history of a 5150 in the state of California in their life time and later purchased a gun or been eligible to do so in the state of California?
Also can state law trump federal law? I know it can for certain things. ie…medical marijuana or euthanasia, which is illegal federally but legal in some states.
CA excludes you for 5 years.
Federal law excludes anyone who “Has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to a mental institution.”
“Adjudicated” is a legal term I believe, referring to a court decision, which never occurred in my case. So I have never been legally found as such. And what does “mental defective” even mean??
Does being “adjudicated a mental defective” mean you were found incompetent?? ie. being placed under conservatorship, or are mentally retarded.
As far as being “committed”. I was placed on a 5150, 72 hour observation hold, as a danger to myself. I don’t believe that actually constitutes being committed.
Doesn’t “committed” mean you were sentenced or placed in a mental health facility for a relatively extensive period of time?? ie. someone who was found guilty of murder on the basis of insanity and placed in an institution, or someone who, for example is stark raving mad, like a severe case of schizophrenia.
I just hate to think this will adversely affect my career for the rest of my life. Not only am I in the background for CYA counselor, but also in two different counties to be a probation officer.
March 4, 2011
11:13 pm
When you purchase a firearm, you must fill out a form 4473. Lying on this form is a felony and punishable up to 5 year in prison. To the best of my knowledge, you, due to this single occurrence of, let’s say “bad judgment”, can never own a firearm. There may be a provision for a waiver, but I’m not certain of this and if there were, I would guess it would involve psychological evaluations and a bunch of hassle and expense. Perhaps an email to the ATF would be the way to go?
Hope this helps.