October 2012 - The Background Investigator

Volume 12 Number 10
October 2012
Though its recent popularity is
greater than ever before, the background check industry has roots that
extend farther back than one might
think. Many developments came together to create the industry as we
know it today. Here are ten of the pioneering people and organizations in
background screening:
1.Henry Fielding – The creator of the
forerunner to the modern police records system, Henry Fielding’s contributions to law enforcement and modern private investigation is undeniable. His Bow Street Runners, the first
professional police force, were responsible for several advancements in
criminal justice.
2.J. Edgar Hoover – His creation of
the first fingerprint database and obsession with data collection left an
indelible mark on the methods investigators use to collect information.
This story continues on Page 3
Oxford, England Courthouse
Photograph by Steven Brownstein
PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT NO. 164
MORTONGROVE, IL
Shortly after Missouri Rep. Todd Akin made his combustible
comments about how women subject to “legitimate rape” were
unlikely to get pregnant, a couple of office workers
Article
at a large energy company got into a heated discuscontinues on
Page 9
sion about whether Rep. Akin’s views had…..
Yahoo CEO
Caught Padding
his Resume
Recently it was determined that the CEO of Yahoo had “bent the truth”
regarding his educational
background. Mr. Scott
Thompson claimed to receive a Bachelor’s degree
in accounting and computer
science from Stonehill College. Researchers looking
into his background determined that Mr. Thompson
had only received a degree
in accounting; he never re- reference to him holding a ences to Thompson’s comceived a degree in comput- computer science degree an puter science degree from
er science.
“inadvertent error”.
his official biography on
their website, and issued
Now Mr. Thompson’s lie
This seems highly implau- the following statement:
is causing Yahoo major
sible; there are references “This in no way alters the
headaches. For years, bio- to Mr. Thompson’s comfact that Mr. Thompson is a
graphical statements have puter science degree feahighly qualified executive
been published about
tured in numerous pieces of with a successful track recThompson that contains
marketing material and in ord leading large consumer
this fraudulent information. his biographies on websites technology companies”.
Even his bio on Yahoo’s
such as PayPal and eBay
website claims that he has (where he previously
If the HR department at
received a degree in com- served as president).
Yahoo had simply conductputer science. Yahoo inied education verification
tially dismissed the rumors Yahoo has finally admit- prior to appointing Mr.
about Mr. Thompson’s
ted the truth: Yahoo is cur- Thompson, they would refalse credentials, calling the rently deleting all referalized that he didn’t have
the credentials he claimed
and could have avoided this
PR nightmare. It should be
noted that Mr. Thompson
resigned from Yahoo.
Not doing Puerto Rico
through Straightline
International’s
exclusive system can
cost you your
company!
Meet Steven Brownstein
On LinkedIn
PUBLISHER
Steven Brownstein
CONTRIBUTORS:
Mike Sankey, Les Rosen, Dennis Brownstein, Derek Hinton
COVER PHOTOGRAPH:
Oxford, England Court
COVER PHOTOGRAPHER:
Steven Brownstein
PURPOSE: “Dedicated to pre-employment screenings everywhere”
The Background Investigator is published by Steven Brownstein, LLC,
PMB 1007, Box 10001, Saipan, MP 96950. Phone: 670-256-7000. Copyright
2012 by Steven Brownstein. Some material in this publication must not be reproduced by any method without the written permission of the copyright holder.
he and his wife Sarah became crusaders for more
stringent gun control laws,
Continued from front page
which spawned the Brady
Handgun Violence Preven3.Eugene Francois Vidocq tion Act. This law requires
that all people attempting
– One of the most imto purchase a firearm must
portant and controversial
first submit to a backaspects of a full background check is the ability ground check.
to access sensitive consumer report information; this
is due in part to the work of
French convict-turnedlawman Eugene Francois
Vidocq who created the
world’s first credit reporting agency.
Top Ten Of Our
Industry
4.Allan Pinkerton – America’s first private investigator, the legendary Scottishborn Allan Pinkerton was
responsible for many advancement in law enforcement and investigative
techniques in both the public and private sectors.
Les Rosen (#6) with Steven Brownstein (#8)
6.Lester Rosen – The
founder of Employment
Screening Resources,
Lester Rosen formed his
firm in 1996 after working
for the Doane Agency.
Qualified as a employment
screening expert and a recognized expert in the field,
Mr. Rosen is one of the industry’s foremost figures.
the leading non-profit trade
association for companies
that offer background
screening services. Their
mission of promoting ethical hiring and compliance
with federal law places
them among the figureheads in the industry.
website was designed in
2005 to streamline the employment verification process even further by creating a system for verifying
past salary and employment
information.
The background screening
and investigative industry
8.Steven Brownstein – In is an ever-evolving one; as
response to the lack of in- legal implications and admissibility changes, so
dustry standards, Steve
must the service providers
Brownstein held the first
background check industry and industry leaders. These
conference in Long Beach, companies and individuals
have aided dramatically in
California in 2000. This
creating today’s multiconference led to more
million dollar industry.
events in Tampa, Florida
on an even larger scale and
strove to introduce an industry standard system.
9.Pre-Employ.Com – As
one of the very first internet
-based background screening companies, PreEmploy.Com helped to revolutionize the process of
background checks by
streamlining and speeding
up the process.
5.Jim and Sarah Brady –
After being injured in the
assassination attempt on
President Reagan, Jim
Brady suffered permanent 7.NAPBS – The National 10.Past-Employ.Com –
Association of Professional Part of the Preparalysis and some brain
Employ.Com family, this
damage. In response to this, Background Screeners is
Northern Illinois
Record Users Look Below
DOB?
How long
does it take to
find this most
important bit of
information?
Next Day.
Guaranteed.
South Korea
President Fed Up
With Soft Stance
On AlcoholInduced Violence
"Our country must be the "No more drunken vioonly nation where drunks
lence!"
beat up the police," he said.
The joint campaign with
South Koreans are the
the Seoul police aims to
world's heaviest consumers curb alcohol-induced vioof spirits, with the average lence and other rowdy beadult drinking 9.57 litres a haviour.
year, according to 2005 data from the World Health
Organisation published last Bet You Didn’t
year.
South Korea's president
called for tough action
against alcohol-induced
violence in a country where
the police and courts have
Street brawls, family viotraditionally taken a lenient
lence and other crimes inattitude towards intoxicated
volving drinking are comoffenders.
mon but police and courts
often hand down lenient
"We must correct a culpunishments to offenders
ture of tolerating misbehavwho acted under the influiour by drunk people," Lee
ence.
Myung-bak told police officers and officials working
Last month top liquor
to stamp out violence in
maker Hite-Jinro started
schools and other sectors of
labelling soju and beer botsociety.
tles with messages such as:
Know
Industries with high turnover rates such as hospitality
tend not to do many background checks.
This according to a New
Zealand Press Release.
POINT TO POINT SERVICE
XR2
Criminal Search
PUERTO RICO
The ‘XR2’ Puerto Rico search is your
insurance that you are getting the best possible results.
It is proven that police searches in Puerto Rico
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The XR2 signifies a new plateau of search results
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The Public Record Update
A Service from BRB Publications, Inc.
Civil Case Limits Raised in 3 Louisiana Counties
Through several 2012 legislative acts, three cities have individually increased the
upper $$ limit on civil lawsuits. The limit increase means the affected cases do not
need to be filed in the more costly and time consuming District Court.
The City Court of Slidell (St. Tammany Parish) increased its limit from $35,000 to
$50,000. The Abbeyville and Kaplan City Courts (both in Vermilion Parish) raised
their limit from $25,000 to $35,000. The increases took effect August 1, 2012.
View a chart of all legislative changes affecting City Courts at
www.lcaanet.org/images/2012_Legislative_Changes_City_Court_6-14-12_.pdf.
City Courts are courts of record and handle misdemeanors, limited civil, juvenile,
traffic and evection. The amount of civil is concurrent with the District Court based
where the amount in controversy does not exceed $15,000 to $50,000 depending on
the court.
SAM and the Excluded Part List System (EPLS)
At the end of July 2012, access to the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) was taken over by a new system. EPLS, along with Federal Agency Registration (FedReg),
the Central Contractor Registration (CCR), and the Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA), were migrated into the new System for Award
Management also known as SAM (https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM) At this
time, SAM is overwhelmed and record searching on the EPLS is still available at
https://www.epls.gov/. Indications are this search feature will eventually be moved
to SAM
Other free search federal government sites commonly used in background investigations remain unchanged, including:
Denied Persons List - www.bis.doc.gov/dpl/default.shtm
Unverified List www.bis.doc.gov/enforcement/unverifiedlist/unverified_parties.html
Debarred Parties List - www.pmddtc.state.gov/compliance/debar.html
We welcome your comments and observations about The Public Record Update
Please address your comments to Michael Sankey at [email protected]
Making copies of any part of the Public Record Update© for any purpose other than your own personal use
is prohibited unless written authorization is obtained from BRB Publications. Phone - 480-829-7475
Public Record Retriever Network - www.prrn.us
The CRA Help Desk - www.CRAHelpDesk.com
BRB's Free Public Record Resource Center - www.brbpublications.com/pubrecsites.asp
Motor Vehicle Record Decoder - www.mvrdecoder.com
BRB's Public Record Blog - www.publicrecordsblog.net
BRB's Bookstore - www.brbpublications.com/books
BRB's Public Record Blog - www.publicrecordsblog.net
These Ads Are
Affordable
Les Rosen’s
Corner
A monthly column
By Lester Rosen,
Attorney at Law
But focusing on prevention and consulting with
qualified investigation services can help you avoid
this nightmare.
"It's shocking who gets
through the hiring process,"
said Les Rosen, president
of San Rafael's Employment Screening Resources.
Unfortunately, Rosen said, EEOC Guidance
"A lot of firms spend more
on Criminal
time and energy figuring
Records
out which laptop to buy
Les Rosen than who they're going to
hire."
Employment Screening
Resources (ESR) Founder
An important step is getBefore you starting look- and CEO Attorney Lester
ting background checks on ing for pre-employment
Rosen has written a new
screening firms, first make whitepaper, ‘Practical Steps
job candidates. Industry
statistics show that 10 per- sure you've established the Employers Can Take to
groundwork for safe hiring. Comply with New EEOC
cent of applicants have
criminal records relevant to Using thorough application Criminal Record Guidthe hiring process, and up forms, asking the right
ance.’ The complimentary
to 30 percent lie on requestions during interviews whitepaper from ESR is
sumes.
and carefully checking ref- undergoing a controlled
erences will go a long way release and will be availaA bad hiring decision can toward filtering out unde- ble to employers by emailcost you 1.5 times the
sirable candidates, Rosen
ing EEOCwhitepaworker's salary by the time said. Background screening [email protected].
you account for recruiting, is the last step before hiring www.esrcheck.com/.
training and productivity
and should be done only on
Besides eliminating uncertainty, a pre-employment
background check also satisfies an employer's duty of
due diligence and prevents
a lawsuit if a screened employee would hurt another
employee or the public.
Curious if that person you
are about to hire really attended Harvard before
moving up to the vice president level before the age of
25? Hire a firm to perform
a quick pre-employment
background check. Not on-
the finalists.
losses -- not to mention
what you might suffer if
something terrible occurs
Whitepaper to
and you get sued for negliHelp Employers
gent hiring.
ly will you find out if the
person's resume is embellished, you'll also find out
whether he or she is a criminal.
The typical organization
loses 6 percent of its annual
revenue to occupational
fraud, says the Association
of Certified Fraud Examiners.
"A background check costs less
than you'd pay a person before
2:00 p.m. on their first day on
the job."
Comply with New
that Breivik created.
It has been remarked that
this sick person went to
According to an article in elaborate and time consumthe University World
ing lengths to plan his operNews…”A young data ex- ations of mayhem and murpert who did not give his
der. All funded by money
full name confirmed in an from unethical characters
interview with the Norwe- trying to pass themselves
gian newspaper VG that he off as someone with a colhad assisted Breivik in this lege degree.
Many are aware of diplo- undertaking during 2004So, I guess, we can say
ma mills. Diploma mills are 05, from his home in Asia,
there are diploma mills,
nefarious services that ei- and that he was paid
ther issue forged diplomas promptly for his work. He that service the incredibly
lazy. And then there are
from legitimate universities said he made up to 200
diplomas mills that have
or have bogus online unac- false documents a month
for Breivik, VGreported.” funded one of the worst
credited colleges that sell
your a diploma earned for
“life experience. For a
certain fee you can get a
Bachelor’s Degree. A few
bucks more and you can get
a Master’s or Doctorate.
Norwegian Mass
Murderer
Supported
Himself With
Diploma Mill
Scam
It’s a scam. As Corra
Group, a background
checking agency, we uncover bogus degrees issued
from diploma mills with
relative frequency. Some
are well conceived and almost look legitimate. Others are pretty funky. Many
of the Diploma Mills whose
sites permeate he Internet
adopt the names of Universities and Colleges that approximate the names of esteemed and accredited universities. The name of the
school almost sounds right,
sounds like you have heard
it before. It’s like looking
at the trademark on a counterfeit handbag or watch, or
pair of jeans, and thinking
it looks like the real one.
Only it’s not. Far from it.
So who has been working
the diploma scam? Why
none other than Anders
Behring Breivik, the right
wing Norwegian nut job
who used the money to finance his bomb attack on a
government building in Oslo and who later shot up all
those people on the nearby
island of Utoya. In all,
Breivik earned over $1 million dollars by pumping out
bogus diplomas. It’s hard
to imagine, but out in this
world slippery and desperate employment candidates
are trying to pass off to recruiters and human resources personnel diplomas from fake universities
crimes in the decade. And
that’s saying something,
these days.
NO DELAYS
Not a Police
Data Base Search
Canada
Provincial Courts
Criminal Research
Call 1-866-909-6678
Or Fax 1-866-909-6679
Straightline International
Shortest distance between you and the courts
New FCRA
Background
Check Forms
Required
January 1, 2013
Effective January 1, 2013,
employers must revise
Summary of Rights forms
they provide to prospective
and current employees as
required under the Fair
Credit Reporting Act
("FCRA").
Dennis
Brownstein’s
Extreme Court
News
http://extremecourtnews.blogspot.com/
bars and in the streets, joining can be more bureaucratic than bloody.
Recruits are required
to provide their FBI-issued
rap sheets, replete with a
list of arrests, convictions
and sentences, according to
court records and law enforcement authorities.
Voted #1
New
Column
Want to join
the Aryan
Brotherhood of
Texas?
There’s an application for
that
The climb to membership
in the feared Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison
gang isn’t just about getting
inked with racially charged
tattoos and obeying underworld orders, but also includes a stipulation that
gangster prospects show
government-issued proof of
their criminal credentials.
While the gang – which
was born in the Texas prison system in the 1980s and
operates statewide – tolerates drug dealers, killers
and kidnappers among its
ruffian ranks, there is no
room for child molesters or
rapists
Gang leaders also want to
root out snitches by checking to see if a convict has
done a respectable amount
of time for his crimes. If he
was cut loose too easy, it’s
a red flag signaling he
might be a government informant.
.
The gang, which carves
Texas into five territories,
does not hesitate to brutalize those who cross them.
Some of the harshest murders, maiming and beatings
have been reserved for
members who cross the
gang. One had a tattoo
burned off his body with a
welding torch. Another,
along with his girlfriend,
was blasted in the head
with a shotgun.
And so, for all the mayhem the state’s largest Aryan gang unleashes behind
“The background check is
still one of the most important things they do,”
said Emil Garza, head of
the central gang intelligence office for the Texas
Department of Criminal
Justice
The gang historically has
tried to stay away from sexual predators and been concerned about possible infiltration by informants, he
said.
“There are a lot of things
that are tell-tale signs to
these guys that you are
working for someone,”
Garza said. “They have
nothing but time to figure
this out.”
ment sex discrimination
suit. In addition, the employer had a written policy
Continued from front page
that explicitly discouraged
discussions of flammable
political topics like aborhad any merit. The two dis- tion. The employer promptagreed so vehemently, they ly terminated both employees.
nearly came to blows.
Alarmed about the disrupAlthough the First
tion, the employer called
Amendment broadly proSteven Hurd, a partner at
tects our right to freedom
the New York law firm
Proskauer in its labor and of speech, especially when
we’re expressing views
employment law department. Could the company about politics, the fact is,
fire the employees, or was according to Hurd, private
employers can bar political
their political discussion
discussions in the workprotected by the First
Amendment’s guarantee of place. According to a survey conducted by the Socifreedom of expression?
ety for Human Resources in
Hurd’s response: the em- Alexandria, Va, during the
ployer had the right to fire last presidential election, a
the disruptive employees. quarter of employers had a
In fact, Hurd urged the firm written policy on political
activities, some of which
to let the workers go, because their loud argument include restrictions on pocould cause another kind of litical chatter at work. Another 20% had unwritten
legal problem: A female
policies and about 5% of
employee sensitive about
organizations with a policy
sex discrimination could
feel that a supervisor who said they meted out disciagreed with Rep. Akin was pline for noncompliance
within the year leading up
hostile to women, which
could open up the employer to the survey.
to a hostile work environ-
Out With Free
Speech
For government employees, the standard is different, notes Hurd. They have
broad protections on their
political speech under the
First Amendment.
her job back. Hurd says that
the restaurant would have
been justified in firing Geller for wearing the bracelet.
MEXICO
Mexico City
PUBLIC ACCESS
ALL PUBLIC RECORDS
Employees can also be
Available only from
sanctioned for political
Hurd thinks written poli- speech they put in emails or
cies are a good idea for pri- on social media during the
workday, adds Hurd.
vate employers, because
they help clarify matters for
workers. But he says that a
policy is not a requirement
for employers who deem a
political discussion disruptive and want to dismiss the
vociferous parties. Further,
the political discussion
doesn’t even need to be
spoken out loud. In Pennsylvania last year, Megan
Geller, a 23-year-old waitress at a suburban Chicago
Outback Steakhouse, wore
a bright yellow Tea Party
bracelet to work. After customers complained about
the bracelet, Geller’s employer let her go. Though
her employer insisted they
1-866-909-6678
fired Geller because she
was inattentive to several
tables of diners, Geller argued that her employers
had retaliated against her
“What you need, When you need them”
for being a Tea Party supporter. Geller did not get
TORONTO
COURT
RECORDS
CALL
least by keeping criminals
apart from the rest of us.
Motivated inmates can
A National News Editorial
learn a skill or acquire an
education that will serve
Sometimes, through no
them well on the outside.
fault of their own - perhaps But one thing you can't curby losing a job or receiving rently do in jail is earn
unexpected bills - people
money to pay off a debt.
end up owing more money
than they can pay back.
Not everyone with unpaid
But, unless you have
bills goes to jail, however.
brought it on yourself by
Some flee the country bebehaving recklessly or
fore that happens. Either
fraudulently, bankruptcy
way, creditors don't get reshould not make you a
paid.
criminal
Some good news has
As we have noted on these come to light following dispages before, UAE law is cussions between the attortough on people who
ney general of Dubai
bounce cheques or accumu- Courts and officers of the
late unpayable bills. Do it, Indian Embassy, which has
and you will go to jail until expressed concern about
you can settle the debt - and the high number - about
that could mean you lan1,300 - of its nationals in
guish behind bars longer
UAE prisons for unpaid
than thief.
debt.
Owe Money In
UAE - Go To Jail
Prisons serve a necessary
role in the community, not
Lokesh has said that there
was already "some movement in the Government to
make amendments to the
bankruptcy laws". While
the specifics are not yet
available, this might allow
prisoners to perform paid
work and to use their earnings to pay off their debts.
This is surely a move in
the right direction. If it
means fewer people are in
jail, society wins by not
having to bear the cost of
supporting them. Presumably the work the prisoners
undertake will also have
some benefit to the nation.
There will be savings, too,
and benefits for inmates
who will be able to earn the
chance for freedom.
No one is advocating a
"get out of jail free" card,
just a measure that provides
a light at the end of the tunnel for people with little or
no hope. Prison is not a
good way to deal with debt
and, pending broad reforms
of debt collection and bankruptcy laws, the proposal
offers one solution.
Tardy Background
Check Leads To
Firing of HuffPo
Exec
that Loew did not meet
their hiring standards.
It may seem strange that
the results of the background check came about
months after Loew was
hired. Why waste time and
resources bringing an employee on board if he hasn’t
been fully vetted yet? In
fact, the practice of delayed
background checks isn’t all
that unusual, according to
Joshua A. Hawks-Ladds, a
labor and employment attorney in Connecticut.
“There’s a whole host of
reasons
why these things
Recently hired Huffington
happen,”
Hawks-Ladds exPost Senior Vice President
of Sales Moritz Loew was plains. “Some employers
don’t bother to wait for the
let go after only three
months on the job, thanks background check to come
to a background check that back before making a hire.
None of this trivializes the turned up a 9-year-old DWI Some don’t bother to do a
offences of those who have arrest. Loew had an outbackground check until the
broken the law, or changes standing warrant in Seattle hire already takes place.
the fact that people must be from 2003 for failure to
Some don’t check them,
As The National reported, held accountable for their appear in court for the
some don’t follow up…
debts.
India's Ambassador MK
Sometimes they get suspicharges.
cious after the hire.”
“My biggest regret is having even touched a set of
car keys after drinking
beer,” Loew wrote in an
email message to friends
and colleagues. “If this is
the worst thing that happens to me due that mistake, I will consider myself
extremely fortunate…I
have since cleared everything up with my friends at
the King County Court
House and hoping to move
on in a positive fashion.”
After his dismissal, HuffPo owner AOL said only
1 In 5
Background
Check Disputes
Involve ID Theft
Identity theft accounts for
21 percent of inaccurate
background screenings, according to research by
MyBackgroundCheck.com.
Claim Of iPhone
Hacking Raises
Questions About
FBI Data
A hacker group's claim
that it obtained from an FBI
laptop a file with more than
12 million identification
numbers for Apple iPhones,
iPads and other devices has
set off widespread speculation about why a federal
agency would possess such
information.
But the FBI disputed the
allegation, saying that "at
this time, there is no evidence indicating that an
FBI laptop was compromised or that the FBI either
sought or obtained this data."
If the FBI's denials prove
correct, the agency may
have been the victim of a
clever hoax by the group
known as AntiSec that
spurred thousands of headlines around the Web and
left readers wondering how
and why the FBI could
have gotten access to Apple
customer records.
The hackers said they
found the file when they
infiltrated a Dell laptop
computer belonging to
Christopher K. Stangl, a
member of the FBI's Cyber
Action Teams. They posted
to a website a file containing 1 million of the socalled unique device identifiers, or UDIDs, to bolster
their claim. They said the
larger file included "user
names, name of device,
type of device, Apple Push
Notification Service tokens" as well as ZIP Codes,
cellphone numbers and addresses, though they did not
release any of those details.
The hacker group said the
file containing the data was
called
"NCFTA_iOS_devices_int
el.csv". That set off a flurry
of speculation among privacy activists that the data
was linked to the National
Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance, a partnership
of business, government
and academia that includes
a former FBI agent as its
director of operations. No
one from that organization
responded to requests for
comment.
cyber security legislation,"
said Trevor Tim, an activist
and blogger with the Electronic Frontier Foundation,
a civil liberties group focusing on technology.
"That these companies
were going to use cyber
The NCFTA, which is
information sharing provibased in Pittsburgh, has
sions to hand over large
billed itself as a clearingswaths of data to the govhouse through which com- ernment that they would
panies can indirectly share otherwise need a subpoena
cyber security-related data or a warrant or a court orwith the government. Cyber der."
security legislation that
After the Sept. 11, 2001,
failed to pass the Senate in
July included provisions to terrorist attacks, the FBI
was given legal tools to reexpand such information
sharing, so that the FBI and quest "third-party business
other agencies have help in records" without a court
tackling malware used in
order, as long as it deemed
those records "relevant to
cyber crime.
an investigation." Many
consumer interactions with
"It's exactly the type of
scenario that we were wor- businesses on the Web proried about happening with duce records that are cov-
ered under those provisions
and are not protected by the
4th Amendment requirement of a search warrant.
Most security experts said
that the release of UDIDs
into the wild in and of itself
did not pose much of a privacy or security risk. It was
no more harmful than a list
of car VIN numbers, they
said.
But if AntiSec's claims are
true that the larger file accessed includes names,
phone numbers and email
addresses, the information
could be used to track individuals, see what apps
they've downloaded or lead
to identity theft, said Ori
Eisen, founder and chief
innovation officer of security firm 41st Parameter.
Derek Hinton’s
Column
Beijing: Courts
Seal Youth
Criminal
Records
Beijing courts are preparing for the adoption of a
new nationwide criminal
law next year, under which
some convicted juvenile
offenders are to have their
criminal records sealed,
making it easier for them to
apply for jobs or further
education.
According to the current
Criminal Law, amended in
2011, most convicted criminals must report their record when they apply to the
military or for a job.
Those who were under 18
when they committed the
crime, and were sentenced
to less than five years in jail
or to a non-custodial sentence, do not have to tell
prospective employers of
their conviction, but the
employer can still access
the record by applying to
the police.
China's new Criminal Procedure Law, which comes
into effect on January 1,
2013, states that juveniles
convicted and sentenced for
less than five years will
have their criminal record
sealed. The records will not
be given to organizations,
companies or individuals.
Li Na, a judge who deals
with juvenile criminal cases
at Changping District People's Court, told the The
Background Investigator
that to prepare for the new
regulation, details about its Yangyang (pseudonym),
implementation have been the report said.
recently released to the
The boy was convicted of
court.
robbery and placed on probation before taking his
"The juvenile criminal
record will be kept in court college entrance examinaarchives, and won't appear tion, but after his records
on the offender's personal were sealed, he was admitfile," she said. The procura- ted to a major university in
torate and the public securi- Beijing and joined the Party
ty bureau where the offend- while at university.
er is registered to live will
By contrast, Xiaoming
also have the record, but
will keep it secret, she said. (pseudonym), who received
a criminal record after he
stole a schoolmate's cellTo join the military, the
Communist Party of China phone when he was 16, had
or the civil service, an ap- a hard time finding a job
plicant needs a certificate because of his negative records. Without any income,
from the public security
bureau to show whether he he joined a gang of thieves
and after being caught, was
or she has a criminal record. They can also be dis- sentenced to two years in
prison, said the report.
criminated against when
applying to university or
Zhang Jialan, who works
for a job, Li said.
in the HR department of a
"Under this new system, if Japanese company in Beiasked to give such a certifi- jing, said although sealing
criminal records is done out
cate, the public security
bureau will issue one say- of consideration to a person's future development,
ing 'there is no criminal
she still thinks it is unfair to
record,'" she said.
the company who might
employ such a person.
Cases show that sealing
the records of juveniles can
"If one has committed
make a difference to their
crimes, his or her files
future prospects, the Beijing Youth Daily reported should have all the relevant
records, because they might
Sunday.
bring a security risk to the
Shang Xiuyun, a juvenile company," she said.
court judge from Haidian
Wan Daqiang, a lawyer
court, applied to seal the
from Beijing Shangquan
records of a 15-year-old
Law Firm, who specializes
male offender named as
in child abuse cases, told
the The Background Investigator that although he understands these sentiments,
he still fully supports the
implementation of the new
system.
file of 4.3 million records.
"The children have paid
the price for what they did.
The should get the same
chances as other people as
long as they correct their
mistakes," he noted.
As well, courts across the
country are not on the same
computer systems, so the
inconsistency is also causing headaches, Gaudes
said. Worse, many convictions filed by the courts are
still done on paper, creating
logistical headaches for
RCMP staff, who have to
manually input about
365,000 new convictions
every year.
Carole Gaudes, acting officer of criminal records
management services for
the RCMP at the Ottawabased RCMP headquarters,
said there are several prob"Without a criminal rec- lems the force is dealing
ord on their files, employ- with. Many records have
ers will still be able to
accumulated from Frenchjudge whether a person is speaking jurisdictions as
suitable for the job by do- the RCMP struggles to find
ing a thorough background bilingual staff to manage
check," Wan said.
them, for instance.
Mounties Admit
CPIC Records
Back A Mess
A whopping backlog in
the RCMP’s national crime
With a dwindling staff of
records database shows no
about 60 record analysts
sign of getting better soon,
overseeing the overburthe force has admitted.
dened system, Gaudes is
hoping a singular automatA spokesman for the naed system - much like law
tional police agency told
enforcement agencies use
QMI Agency there are
to register criminal charges
430,000 criminal records
to the system - will be crewaiting to be filed into the
ated for courtrooms
Canadian Police Information Centre database,
with more piling in every
day.
The backlog accounts for
about 10% of the RCMP’s
complete criminal record
A System For
Compensating
Victims That
Needs Fixing
by Hassan Hassan
In pre-Islamic Arabian
history, a cycle of revenge
between two major tribes
was triggered by the killing
of a camel. The two tribes
fought a vicious war that
was said to have lasted for
40 years. Islam adopted a
system of compensation in
a bid to put an end to such
cycles of violence, which
were rampant in the area at
the time
But today in the UAE and
elsewhere in the Muslim
world, this mechanism for
distribution of justice is
subject to abuse. Centuries
after its creation, the system of blood money - diyya
- needs to be revisited.
Sharia stipulates that if a
person commits a murder,
the family of the victim can
demand the death penalty,
accept diyya (the Hadith
suggests it be equal to the
value of 100 camels) or forgive the killer. The process
requires an understanding
by the adult members of the
victim's family, who are
entitled to inheritance, that
they will not seek further
retribution. In cases of
wrongful death and physical or mental injuries, diyya
must be paid to the person
or their dependents. Diyya
is also required for live-
stock killing.
As a former justice and
courts reporter for The National in Abu Dhabi, I often
discussed the issue of diyya
with lawyers and legal experts. Four areas of possible reform stand out:
First, the concept of aqela
(the male family members
of the convicted who are
required by Sharia to pay
diyya in cases of wrongful
death) is in need of reconsideration.
The purpose is to foster a
sense of familial responsibility of a person's mistakes, ensure speedy payment to the victim and encourage responsible social
behaviour. However, social
dynamics have changed
and families no longer feel
obligated to pay for a family member. As a result,
many people can linger in
jail for years after serving
their prison sentence because they cannot afford to
pay (diyya in the UAE is
equal to Dh200,000 per
victim).
Consider the case of Humayun Al Rahman, a 24year-old from Pakistan,
who was sentenced to three
years in prison for causing
the death of 10 people in a
traffic accident in Dubai.
He completed his sentence
in 2008 but is still in jail for
failing to pay Dh2m worth
of diyya. Al Rahman is
stuck in a Catch-22, where
he cannot be released without paying yet cannot pay
while he is in prison. Nor is tract states the company is
liable for any "road" accihis family able to pay for
dents, while the accident
him.
occurred "off road". Two
Al Rahman's case is com- lower courts accepted the
plicated by the number of company's argument but
casualties and the possibil- the Supreme Court ruled
ity of leaving the country if the argument is fallacious
he is released. But his case and ordered the company to
and so many others could pay.
be solved if the concept of
That was the exception,
aqela is broadened to inhowever. Many other comclude a person's country,
panies often avoid honourcommunity or place of
work. In Sudan, for exam- ing their obligations beple, the community or the cause claimants do not purgovernment is required to sue the case to higher
pay the diyya if the person courts, or have incompetent
lawyers.
cannot afford to pay.
Under this system, if Al
Rahman were released and
left the country before the
payment was made, it
would become the responsibility of his country to
ensure the payment to the
victims' families. In countries like the UAE, where
many communities exist,
each community might also
create a special fund to
cover such cases.
A solution is needed.
Keeping a person in jail for
failing to pay a diyya is not
compliant with Sharia nor
with the UAE constitution.
Second, insurance companies or employers should be
forced to make good on
their commitments. It is
common that insurance
companies avoid the payment of diyya under various pretexts. In one case,
an insurance company refused to pay the diyya for a
driver, arguing that the con-
Lower courts ordered diyya
for each instance of harm,
but the Supreme Court
amended the ruling, calling
for payment to compensate
brain damage only.
In western countries, victims of crimes or their dependents can apply for
compensation, expenses or
benefits. The case of Al
Rahman, and many others
like him, is complicated by
the antiquated application
of a Sharia principle. That
principle must be revisited
to establish its purpose and
context.
Third, some courts still
Australian Men
consider diyya for female
victims to be valued at half Take A Beating
the diyya for men. The
courts of Abu Dhabi and
New data released by the
Dubai order equal diyya for
men and women, while federal courts give half the
diyya for women based on
the inheritance law. But,
unlike in the past, women
are now also breadwinners
and they must be treated as
Australian Institute of
such in the courts of law.
Criminology reveals the
rate of assaults by females
Also, equal diyya for
increased by 49 percent
women goes beyond the
from 125 to 186 per
financial significance. In
100,000 between 1996-97
pre-Islamic days the system
and 2009-10.
of blood money varied
from one tribe to another,
In the same period male
and served to assert tribal
assault rates increasing by
or individual supremacy.
18 per cent. But men are
Under Islam, the mechastill more than four times as
nism was regulated and the
likely as women to bash
value of 100 camels was set
someone.
as the standards diyya payment, partly to cultivate
The rate of violent men
equality. This system of
rose from 664 to 786 in
equal treatment must be
100,000.
extended to gender, and
courts must be the agencies
Assault is the most comof promoting this fairness.
mon type of violent crime
in Australia, with 171,083
Fourth, diyya can be
assaults nationally in 2010,
abused in cases of physical
compared with 17,757 sexor mental injuries. In such
ual assaults, 14,582 robinstances, victims can claim
beries and 260 homicides.
to be injured in ways that
are difficult to prove mediIn 2009-10, men also excally. In one instance in Al
perienced a higher rate of
Ain, a man claimed he lost
assault victimisation.
his sense of smell in a traffic accident and demanded
Males were victimised at a
diyya for it. In another case
rate of 837 per 100,000
in Fujairah, a motorist was
compared with 675 per
ordered to pay Dh2 million
100,000 for females.
in diyya for causing damage to a man's memory,
consciousness and brain.
electronically for production of case list and uploading on the website through
the Division's website
The introduction of Infor- hence easy access to all.
mation Communication
Technologies (ICT) in serHe added that the Division
vice delivery at the High
also has an e-Library which
Court-Commercial Divienables members of judicision is a blessing in disary to access books from
guise as far as timely disthe judicial library physipensation of justice for all cally and online for those
is concerned.
who are provided with
passwords.
This was said in Dar es
Salaam by the Chief Justice He noted that the Diviof Zanzibar, Omar Othman sion's Mobile Application
Makungu, when touring the System (MAS) enables accourt.
cess to case related information using mobile
Mr Makungu said he was phones handset. The telemuch impressed with how phone companies involved
it was now simple to access are Vodacom, Tigo and
information regarding cases Airtel.
in the court.
' 'On your mobile handset,
''I am personally very im- open a message page then
pressed with the system as text 'Kesi' or 'case'' or
we are looking forward to 'wahusika' or 'parties', leave
establish a commercial di- a space and write a case
vision in the Isles,'' he said. number (e.g. 11/2011),
send it to 15564 and a reply
Justice Makungu noted
will provide information on
that plans for the establish- the dates, time, hour, and
ment of the proposed divi- chamber,'' he said.
sion were set, and already a
plot has been allocated for
He pointed out some of
the Division and that it
the challenges as including,
would start anytime late
shortage of transcribers and
this year or early next year. stenographers leading to
delayed transcription of all
Earlier, the High Courtaudio records, lack of rules
Commercial Division Reg- governing recording of proistrar, Mr John Kahyoza,
ceedings and absence of an
said the court's mission was established ICT department
to provide just, quality, ef- in the Judiciary.
ficient, effective and
speedy disposal of comOthers includes, insuffimercial cases through mod- cient budget for ICT, insufern systems and practices. ficient skills capacity of
ICT personnel and staff,
He said that through the
missing of records due
Digital Recording System, technical hitch and lack of
the Division records court electricity back up during
proceedings and transcribed the power failure among
them.
others.
Tanzania Goes
High Tech
''The practice eases the
proceedings as judges are
no longer required to write
everything that is been said
in the court.
''We are planning to improve and extend Recording System to sub-registries
in upcountry regions and
build a kiosk where plaintiffs will be researching in''It is also much simpler in formation about their casmaking reference on previ- es,'' he said.
ous cases,'' he said.
Judge Kahyoza said that
all cases filed with the
court are now registered
Elderly Worker
Sentenced For
Workplace
Violence
I have written quite a bit
about workplace violence.
I have reported on surveys
on workplace violence, various studies, and have commented on the more egregious incidents. One such
article is Workplace Bullying is Worse Than
Thought. However, few
things prepare you for an
article about a 75-year-old
worker beating on his fellow employee. Not only
did he beat on him, but
with a custom made club
with thirty odd screws protruding from the end.
Ironically, or not, I have
seen a number of elder man
carrying such a weapon. I
don’t remember any of
them bringing these war
sticks to work.
According to The Mercu-
ry, “ A 75-year-old maintenance worker is headed to
jail after he was convicted
of charges he used a homemade club with 32 protruding screws to attack a coworker at the Montgomery
Township business where
they worked.”
then at least two years of
probation. That’s a lot of
time out of life when you
are 75-years-old. Not the
smartest thing anyone has
ever done. What’s more
the poor victim was nearly
scared half to death, according the witnesses.
Montgomery County,
Philadelphia, essentially, is
my old stomping grounds
as a kid. It’s a decent area,
not overly known for indecent acts of violence.
So, I guess, young or old
everybody can get in with
the ever expanding trend of
workplace violence. Oh
my.
The assailant will be doing between eleven and 24
months of jail time and
GOOD SERVICE
Samoa
Searches
Call 1-866-909-6678
Fax 1-866-909-6679
How We Fudge
Cheating
by Michael Roth
Behavioural economist
Dan Ariely is a funny guy
on a mission. As director of
the Centre for Advanced
Hindsight, he insists on a
commitment to absurdity,
but there is nothing cynical
about his approach to human behaviour.
very predictable, but our
ability to forecast this behaviour doesn’t alter the
conditions that give rise to
it. Recognising this, he
adopts his paradoxical mission: to design better economic and social institutions to protect us from our
confident pursuit of rational
economic and social institutions.
In The (Honest) Truth
about Dishonesty, Ariely
applies his experimental
approach to how we “lie to
everyone – especially ourselves”. The book discusses
the powerful ways irrationality affects our lives and
begins with a critique of
In his previous book, Pre- those who think dishonesty
dictably Irrational, Ariely is really the result of a raexposed our false assump- tional cost-benefit calculations about the rationality tion.
of markets and individuals
In a series of experiments,
with plenty of surprising
Ariely
neatly shows that
and humorous examples.
neither the size of the reOur irrationality may be
ward nor the probability of
getting caught substantially
affects the likelihood of
dishonest behaviour. The
cost-benefit framework for
understanding cheating just
doesn’t pay off.
Ariely sees two conflicting motivations at work in
dishonest behaviour. On the
one hand, we want to view
ourselves as honourable,
and on the other hand we
want to get as much stuff as
possible. We want the benefits of cheating, and we
want to see “ourselves as
honest, wonderful people”.
So we fudge. We fool ourselves and others. Our
“cognitive flexibility” cuts
us so much slack that we
often don’t even perceive
ourselves as getting away
with anything. This flexibility keeps the contradictions between our principles and our behaviour beyond the horizon of our
consciousness.
The (Honest) Truth about
Dishonesty is full of examples of how we deceive
ourselves about cheating.
Somehow it seems to most
people less like cheating to
favourably reposition a golf
ball with one’s foot than to
move it with one’s hand.
Tapping the ball with your
club is best of all!
As a rule, “cheating becomes much simpler when
there are more steps between us and the dishonest
act”. We are more averse to
directly taking some cash
off the table, but much
more likely to behave dishonestly to get a reward
that in the end has cash value. Psychological distance
is key.
real, but the altruistic dishonesty of his care-givers
eased his suffering.
Ariely notes that “we
quickly and easily start believing whatever comes out
of our own mouths”, which
means that once we take
credit for something, we
are likely to really believe
that we deserve it. When
students are induced to
cheat on tasks in an experimental situation, they start
to really believe their skill
level has increased.
They certainly realise they
are, say, using an answer
key to “solve” a problem.
Nonetheless they begin to
inflate their perception of
their own competence at
problem solving. This kills
two birds with one stone.
They don’t feel guilty for
having cheated, and since
they’ve forgotten about the
cheating, they feel better
about their performance.
Despite the good humour
with which Ariely discusses his ingenious experiments, this is depressing
stuff. But there is hope.
Although it is easy to induce dishonest behaviour in
people, it is also easy to
reduce the incidence of
such behaviour. Mostly,
small reminders of basic
moral standards tend to improve behaviour.
Whether it’s the Ten
Commandments, an honour
code or a declaration of
professional principles,
bringing moral standards to
mind reduces cheating.
that many of our professionals systematically find
themselves in conflict situations and they fool themselves about not falling into
unethical behaviour. And
when these professionals
know their clients well,
when they are most trusted,
this is when the worst conflicts tend to arise. Whether
we are on the client or the
professional side, we are
likely to tell ourselves that
these situations don’t apply
to us and the people we
trust. We fool ourselves,
and so we don’t recognise
the dishonesty.
Ariely shows us how
some basic factors, such as
being tired or hungry, undermine our efforts to be
ethical. I was struck here,
as I was in Daniel Kahneman’s excellent Thinking,
Fast and Slow, by the example of judges who tended to defer to parole boards
as the judges got hungrier.
The concept of “ego depletion”, that we can run
out of the strength to do
what we know we should,
reminds us that willpower
is a muscle. It takes energy
to do the right thing. We
also learn that, once cheating starts, it tends to gain
momentum and become
contagious. That’s why we
shouldn’t tolerate small indiscretions; it lowers the
bar for everyone.
Ariely raises the bar for
everyone. In the increasingly crowded field of popular
cognitive science and behavioural economics, he
writes with an unusual
combination of verve and
Signing a pledge before
filling out a form (at the top sagacity.
of the page) is more effective at reducing dishonesty He asks us to remember
than signing a pledge after our fallibility and irrationcompleting a form. Ariely ality, so that we might prolikes students to write out tect ourselves against our
their own honour codes on tendency to fool ourselves.
I guess only advanced hindassignments so that they
have to think about ethics sight will one day tell us
how successful we have
rather than just signing
been.
something automatically.
Dishonesty isn’t always so
bad. The author describes
how doctors and nurses lied
to him repeatedly when as a
teenager he was recovering
from severe burns that almost killed him. If they had
told him the brutal truth, he
might not have mustered
the strength to go on. They
He offers some recomdidn’t want him anticipatmendations on conflicts of
ing excruciating pain that
he was in any case power- interest, particularly in
less to avoid. The pain was medicine. The problem is
Your Sales
Voice. What Is It
Saying To You?
What Is It
Saying To
Others?
Remember Jeffrey Gitomer?
He Spoke at Clearwater Background Investigator
Conference before hundreds:
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The New York Times
best sellers The Sales Bible, The Little Red Book of
Selling, The Little Black Book of Connections, and
The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude. All of his
books have been number one best sellers on Amazon.com, including Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Patterson
Principles of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales
Answers, The Little Green Book of Getting Your
Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching!, The
Little Teal Book of Trust, Social BOOM!, and The
Little Book of Leadership. Jeffrey’s books have appeared on best-seller lists more than 850 times and
have sold millions of copies worldwide.
By Jeffrey Gitomer, guest columnist
I was recently at Washburn University in Topeka,
Kansas, giving a seminar
sponsored by Sales & Marketing Executives International. I had an informal
logistics meeting with some
of the association members
before the event when Jamie, the young woman who
directed me to my preparation room, talked to me
about her career. I asked
her what she was seeking to
become.
control of her self and her
power first, and find her
career path second. We
talked about "voice" for a
while, and I began to type
to capture the thoughts.
What came out of the brief
conversation will benefit
you and your career, and
Jamie was seeking to gain help you understand who
I was taken aback because
I expected some alternate
career choice, or something
along the lines of "make a
lot of money," or "get a job
in event planning." But no,
Her response startled me. she was seeking something
She said, "I'm still trying to much higher.
find my voice."
you are and who you seek
to become.
Jamie was looking for her
voice to come from something she believed in that
would make her voice
stronger, more resonant,
more powerful, and more
believable.
tional.
ANSWER: It STARTS
with your inner voice. It's
the language you speak to
yourself BEFORE you say
a word.
is you're 90 or below.
SUCCESS ACTION:
How do you speak? Record your spoken voice
ONCE A WEEK, and listen
Not the just words, to it actively - which means
take notes. By listening to
the voice that you
project. Your voice is yourself - arguably one of
a statement and pic- the toughest things on the
ture of your character, planet to do - you will gain
your poise, and your a true picture of where you
persona. It's a state- are right now. Your jumpment of belief, confi- ing off point.
dence, and personal
And for those of you livpower.
ing in the dark ages still
trying to "find the pain" in
Where does your
your sales presentation, just
voice come from?
record and listen to yourself
How do you "find" - THAT'S the pain. The
real pain of selling is listenit?
ing to your voice trying to
make a sale - it's also funny
And once you do,
how do you master it? as hell.
You'll know your voice
BE AWARE: Your
voice has nothing to when you hear it.
do with your selling
skills or your product It will speak to you before
you ever say a word.
knowledge. Your
voice is way beyond
According to SHRM
that.
(Society for Human ReGOOD NEWS: You source Management), 60
don't have to look far. percent of all HR profesMost of your voice is sionals reported finding
right at the tip of your inaccuracies on resumes
that come across their
tongue. The rest of it
desks.
is mental and emo-
Sex Killers Not
Who You Think
They Are
The researchers found that
the average age of sexual
murderers was 28. Sixty-six
per cent were white and 29
per cent were aboriginal.
Drawing from the largestAs for marital status, 57 per
ever sample of sex-related
cent were single and 15 per
homicide cases in Canada,
cent were separated or dia pair of researchers have
vorced. A majority of ofdeveloped what they say is
fenders – 80 per cent – had
one of the clearest portraits
no prior sexual convictions.
yet of the people who commit these unusual crimes
“The investigative strateand their victims.
gy of prioritizing ‘known
sex offenders’ would thus
Contrary to previous studlikely be unproductive as
ies that suggested sexual
the majority of sexual murmurderers were socially
derers have no prior coninept individuals who
victions for sexual crimes,”
“blitzed” unsuspecting victhe researchers wrote.
tims, many sexual murderers are not socially isolated
The average age of vicand often utilize a ruse to
tims was 27. Ninety per
make contact with their viccent were women, 63 per
tim, the researchers found.
cent were white and 33 per
cent were aboriginal. Eight“The current study uncoveen per cent of victims
ers very important differwere known to engage in
ences that could prove useprostitution.
ful for the investigation and
profiling of these crimes by
The researchers found that
the police,” the researchers
most offenders selected
wrote.
their victim at random, and
The release of the study in
the International Journal of
Offender Therapy and
Comparative Criminology
comes just months after the
nation was gripped by the
gruesome sex-related killing and dismemberment of
Concordia University student Jun Lin.
most – 41 per cent – used a
con to approach their victim, such as befriending the
victim or asking for the victim’s help. Only a minority
of sexual murderers surprised their victims, such as
attacking them in their
sleep, or “blitzed” their victims by quickly overpowering them through violence.
“This finding is important
for the investigation of
these cases as it suggests
that in almost half of the
cases, sexual murderers
possess the necessary social
skills to approach their victims under false pretence,”
the researchers wrote. “This
once against contradicts the
image of the introverted
social inapt offender as depicted in previous studies.”
Researchers noted that
ployment or age.
“overkill” – the act of inflicting more grievous bodily harm on a victim than is
necessary to cause death –
was reported in 43 per cent
Background Check
Filipino
of sexual homicides.
Health Care Workers
Long Term
Unemployment
Worse Than
Having a
Criminal Record
An anonymous survey of
1,500 recruiters and hiring
managers found it was less
difficult to place a job candidate with a non-felony
criminal record in a new
job than a long term unemployed candidate out of
Contrary to non-sexual
work for more than two
homicides, offenders in
years. The survey also resexual homicides rarely
vealed “job hopping” by
used firearms. Instead sexu- younger candidates – deal murderers typically beat fined as leaving a job withor strangled their victims. If in one year of being hired –
a weapon was used, it was damaged employment protypically a knife.
spects more than unem-
The Philippines is one of the
world’s largest exporters of
health workers, making this
one of the country’s most
important exports.
Straightline International's
local staff provides complete background searches
plus ALL public records in
the
Philippines.
Ask About Our
“No Delay” Philippines
Service
Call 1-866-909-6678
Or Fax 1-866-909-6679
You can wait in line or we can—Straightline
Luka Magnotta, a onetime porn actor and model,
has pleaded not guilty to
first-degree murder in relation to the killing.
Eric Beauregard, a criminology professor at Simon
Fraser University, and
Melissa Martineau, a senior
research specialist with the
RCMP, analyzed RCMP
records related to 350 sexrelated homicides that occurred from 1948 to 2010.
Each murder case involved some sort of sexual
activity. For instance, there
was evidence of sexual intercourse or the victim’s
body was positioned in a
sexual manner or was missing clothes.
Philippines (Manila) NBI police checks
pany allows only Oklahoma Bar Association members to buy subscription
access to online records in
the 64 counties serviced by
KellPro’s ODCR court records system.
The
Integrated
Automated
Fingerprint
Identification
System
The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or IAFIS, is
a national fingerprint and
criminal history system that
responds to requests 24
hours a day, 365 days a
year to help our local, state,
and federal partners—and
our own investigators—
solve and prevent crime
and catch criminals and terrorists. IAFIS provides automated fingerprint search
capabilities, latent search
capability, electronic image
storage, and electronic exchange of fingerprints and
responses.
What is included in
IAFIS:
Not only fingerprints, but
corresponding criminal histories; mug shots; scars and
tattoo photos; physical
characteristics like height,
weight, and hair and eye
color; and aliases. The system also includes civil fingerprints, mostly of individuals who have served or
are serving in the U.S. military or have been or are
employed by the federal
government. The fingerprints and criminal history
information are submitted
voluntarily by state, local,
and federal law enforcement agencies.
taking weeks or months to
process a single submission. The FBI has been the
The average response time national repository for fingerprints and related crimifor an electronic criminal
fingerprint submission is
nal history data since 1924,
when more than 800,000
about 27 minutes, while
electronic civil submissions fingerprint records from the
National Bureau of Crimiare processed within an
hour and 12 minutes. IAFIS nal Identification and Leavprocessed more than 61
enworth Penitentiary were
consolidated with Bureau
million ten-print submisfiles. The first use of comsions during Fiscal Year
puters to search fingerprint
2010.
files took place in October
1980.
When it started:
work with us.
How fast it works:
IAFIS was launched on July 28, 1999. Prior to this
time, the processing of tenprint fingerprint submissions was largely a manual,
labor-intensive process,
Can We
Charge For Free
Online Records?
The Supreme Court of
Oklahoma has been asked
to review whether a private
contractor charging subscription fees for online
court records and allowing
only a select group access
to them violates the state’s
Open Records Act.
Mike Evans, administrative director of the courts,
said as a result of multiple
complaints, he has asked
the Supreme Court to look
at the practice by state contractor KellPro. The com-
In those counties, residents can access court
dockets online, but only
Oklahoma Bar Association
members can download the
accompanying documents.
KellPro charges a subscription of $50 per month or
$600 per year.
Residents who are not
members of the state bar
association have to drive to
the county courthouse, ask
to examine documents in
person and pay up to $1 per
page for copies.
Meanwhile, taxpayers in
Oklahoma continue to pay
for building a statewide
unified, online system for
free public court records
that does not yet exist.
You can wait in line or we can—Straightline
How big it is:
IAFIS is the largest biometric database in the
world, housing the fingerprints and criminal histories
for more than 70 million
subjects in the criminal
master file, along with
more than 34 million civil
prints. Included in our
criminal database are fingerprints from 73,000
known and suspected terrorists processed by the
U.S. or by international law
enforcement agencies who
Mumbai city-wide police checks
women’s drinking.” But are
we to believe that men really cause women to drink
A new study finds that more?
Men Make
Women Drink
women drink more
alcohol once they are
married.
By Laura Berman
A number of studies have
highlighted the physical
and emotional benefits of
marriage: Research has
shown that married people
are less likely to get cancer,
less likely to have heart attacks, and also have a lower
risk of developing dementia
later in life. Studies have
also found that married
people are less likely to
suffer from depression.
However, a study presented at this year’s annual
American Sociological Association meeting revealed
that marriage might have a
surprising side effect: Researchers found that married women are likely to
drink more after they are
hitched. They also found
that married women drink
more than any other group
of women, including divorcées, widows, and single
women. Men, on the other
hand, actually drink less
once they are married.
What can account for this
gender discrepancy, and
why do women drink more
once they tie the knot?
There are a number of
possibilities, but the authors
of the study suggest that
this increase could be attributed to the influence of
the women’s husbands.
This theory is based on the
fact that single women,
widowed women, and divorced women drink less
than married peers — in
fact, women experience a
decline in drinking following divorce, while men experience an increase
(probably as a way to selfcomfort following the dissolution of the marriage).
Because women drink less
when they are single, the
researchers suggest that
“men introduce and prompt
It’s impossible to say for
sure, especially since this
study wasn’t able to prove
why married women drink
more than their single peers
or whether men really do
lead women to drink more.
However, it could be that
drinking is similar to eating
when it comes to couples.
For example, some women
feel tempted to eat like
their mates once they are in
a committed relationship.
They see their guys ordering Buffalo wings or having a third slice of pizza,
and it’s only natural that
they want to follow suit.
This explains why women
tend to gain weight following marriage (as revealed in
a study from Ohio State
University that found that
women gradually become
heavier after tying the
knot). Once again, the opposite is true for men. They
gain weight after divorce,
not marriage.
dinner and your guy wants
to order a round of beer or
another appetizer, lead the
way by suggesting a lighter
option or by challenging
him to a workout session
after dinner.
through a boomerang effect
that began three years ago
and some economist predict
will last seven more, scams
in the Philippines and the
entire Asian region seem to
be evolving.
Does this mean that men
aren’t a good influence on
women when it comes to
lifestyle habits? Of course
not. Getting married still
has positive benefits for
men and women alike, but
it’s important to remember
that what’s good for the
gander isn’t always good
for the goose! Unfortunately, when it comes to alcohol and food, women sadly
can’t enjoy like “one of the
boys” — their caloric requirements are different
from those of men, as is the
ability of a woman's body
to break down alcohol. So
the next time you go out for
Ultimately, your health is
in your hands, but if you
both commit to making
healthy lifestyle choices,
you will inspire and motivate each other to stick to
those goals. A healthy marriage is a happy marriage!
Given the ongoing uncertainly and trouble in the
global economy, business
fraud levels are very high,
and the Philippines remains
a high risk area, and for
investigators considering
conducting business or
starting a new relationship
in this island nation, a professional background check
is key.
Philippines
Background
Checks More
Important than
Ever
As the world’s economy
keeps scaring people
The NBI (National Bureau
of Investigation) in Manila
says business fraud is a
greater risk than ever for
foreign firms looking to
invest in the Philippines
and Malaysia.
Shawn Daivari,
WWE Star,
Chokes Unruly
Train Passenger
He told the site it was all
he could think to do at the
time. He and other passengers had pressed an emergency button to call for
help, but nobody came.
We would have gone with "I wasn't going to wait
a pile driver, but his move any longer to see if a cop
showed up," Daivari said.
was OK, too.
Former WWE star Shawn
Daivari told TMZ that he
performed an expert wrestling move and saved the
day when a passenger went
berserk on an airport-bound
train out of Minneapolis on
Thursday.
The perp reportedly
threatened to kill everyone
on the train and was yelling
racial slurs, but Daivari
wasn't having that. He says
he used a rear naked choke
hold -- classic move -- to
subdue the would-be killer.
tling.net. No matter what
organization he's a part of,
at least he's proven that pro
wrestling is real, as some
Twitter users pointed out.
Samuel Phipps
Blamed Elephant
For His 7th DUI:
Cops
"The trooper who responded to the scene of the
accident found that Phipps
appeared to be impaired," a
police statement obtained
by the Philadelphia Inquirer
said. "Phipps told the trooper that the accident was a
result of . . . swerving to
avoid an elephant he observed running in the path
of his vehicle."
sentenced to four years in
prison after being convicted
on three federal wire fraud
charges in a scheme to collect money for background
checks.
The U.S. attorney's office
announced that U.S. District Court Judge Joseph
Bataillon sentenced 53-year
-old David Musk to four
years and also ordered him
to pay $126,715 in restitution.
Cpl. John Day told Delaware Online that, to the
Witnesses said Daivari
Musk ran a business
best of his knowledge,
squeezed the violent pascalled Pavilion Commercial
there were no elephants
senger's neck so hard he
running loose in New Cas- Group and told real estate
peed his pants. Then the
Maybe the circus was in
developers that his compatle that night.
wrestler threw the man out town.
nies could do "Interpol"
at the next stop.
Phipps was also charged and "FBI" background
Samuel Phipps, 31, was
with failure to provide in- checks for them.
Metro Transit Rail told
arrested on his seventh DUI
surance.
TMZ that "Metro Transit
charge after getting into a
Prosecutors say he
police responded after be- car accident he blamed on
charged a $600 fee but didOmaha Man
ing alerted by the train op- an elephant, according to
n't have the ability or the
erator to a fight on board. MyFoxPhilly.
Gets
4
Years
For
intention of doing the
The investigation is ongochecks. Officials say he
Background
ing."
The New Castle, Del.,
collected $170,000.
man was arrested Friday
Check
Fraud
Daivari left WWE in 2007 night when state police said
for live TNA wrestling, ac- his Land Rover veered off
An Omaha man has been
cording to ProWresthe road into a guardrail.
Contact:
Steven Brownstein
PMB 1007 Box 10001
Saipan, MP 96950
1-670-256-7000
[email protected]
The Seven Stages
Of Candidate
Screening
your business have different risks it can help to formulate the overall security
policy and requirements for
prudent screening.
1. Monitor the risk
What are the threats to your
organisation? By understanding these risks and
recognising where areas of
2. Staff training and
awareness
Are staff security aware?
Do staff understand the
risks and help in identifying
problems, whether it is
theft or industrial espionage
it can have a negative impact which can be mitigated
by security aware staff.
a full security screening is
required? If not, this can
be added to deter some undesirable candidates from
applying.
other concerns? We all
know CVs only tell us what
the applicant wants us to
know and so detailed reviews are important. Looking for red flags, anomalies
4. Reviewing CVs and
and issues of concern in the
3. Advertising and
application forms
CV and/or application form
screening
Do reviewers have training should be conducted to sift
Do your job adverts specify to spot red flags, gaps and out undesirable candidates.
5. Screening at interview
Are interviewers trained in
questioning, listening and
body language skills? Having a person asking questions and another observing
and making notes at the
interview helps, but questions need to get to the core
values of the person and
should focus on any anomalies or concerns raised in
the red flag analysis.
6. Pre-employment
screening
Do you have different
screening levels or only
screen staff in high risk areas? Whatever you decide it
is prudent to have policies
that are also adhered to by
third party staffing providers, staff need to understand confidentiality, Data
Protection and seek consent
of the candidates.
7 Post hire screening
Do you conduct any further
checks after hiring? Even
the best candidate can turn
out to be a bad apple, most
organisations conduct a
probationary review but
does this include checks on
appropriate behaviour and
compliance with key security policies? Most new
employees will be bona
fide but training supervisory staff to also review for
performance and behavioural issues can reduce
potential risks.
The cycle continues as we
must continually review the
risks and threats to the organisation, these change
over time, for example,
more unemployed graduates may lead to more qualification deception,
sensitive information when working with a placement
she submitted paperwork
agency to secure various
for a background check to contract positions.
what she thought was a
California law firm.
After completing an eightmonth assignment she got
A Florida lawyer living in
It wasn’t. Now she is wor- through the agency, Morris
Colorado has had her perried about what will happen was contacted again in July
sonal information compronext.
regarding a job with
mised, potentially setting
“Isaacson Goldberg Warnher up for identity theft or
Morris recently moved
er,” purportedly a Califorimpersonation.
from Tampa to Denver and nia firm that had a medical
since she is not licensed in malpractice case set for triLaurie Morris unwittingly
Colorado, she has been
al in Denver in October and
provided the miscreants her
ID theft Is The
Latest Threat To
Attorneys
needed some extra help.
“They supposedly reviewed my resume, approved me, and sent me
some paperwork to fill out
for a background check,”
said Morris, adding she was
“hired” along with another
lawyer and a paralegal and
told when and where to report to get started on the
case.
When that day came, the
“California lawyers” never
showed and failed to respond to calls from the
placement agency.
After contacting the State
Bar of California and the
property managers of the
building supposedly housing the firm, it became
clear “Isaacson Goldberg
Warner” didn’t exist.