Why you should never rely on a National Criminal Search for pre-employment purposes.
We must remember why we're running criminal searches in the first place. The bottom line is, you want to know if the applicant has any felony or misdemeanor record convictions. The only way to get the accurate answer is by doing a statewide criminal search first. If a record shows up, you can then follow it up with a county criminal search.
Those two searches are the only two places you will find actual felony or misdemeanor criminal records. This is where the counties in which the crime occured, will report the charge and the outcome.
The problem with the national criminal search is that it's purely a 'database.' Someone can be arrested or charged with a crime and it is logged into the National Criminal database. Later the charges can be dropped, in which case there is no crime nor any record.
Maybe it was a case of mistaken identity. Maybe the case lacked sufficient evidence. But for example purposes, we are saying the case has been dropped and now, no actual crime or offense even exists. The problem is this...the National Criminal database will still show an arrest or alleged crime.
To refuse employment to a prospective applicant based on inaccurate information as described above is discrimination. In the National Criminal Search database, there is no actual evidence of any conviction or outcome...only that there was an original charge or incident.
So what is the best proper procedure?
First, you should do a social security search that validates the candidate has an actual social security number, and it is valid. That search will give you the residences (cities and states) where the applicant has been for the past 10 years.
From that, you can determine what state(s) searches you should run. For instance, let's say the applicant has lived in Georgia for the past 5 years, and now has moved to your state in Arizona and has lived there for only 6 months.
You should run a state criminal search in both Arizona and Georgia. If nothing comes up in either, you could go back further if you like. If something does show in either, you can then determine the counties he/she lived in, and run those counties.
This process will give you the most accurate information which is exactly what you're looking for. The county criminal searches will give you the detailed information you need to determine your decision.
Unfortunately, many times, we find companies doing only national criminal searches. These are of course faster and easier...but they are not the most accurate method to use. In fact, as previously demonstrated above, they are terribly inaccurate!
If you are still unclear, or would like further explanation of this topic, please don't hesitate to call us. That's why we are here. We will find out your exact situation, and give you the exact process that is optimal for you.
