Importance of Background Check
Background check is becoming an important procedure today in various aspects in life. This is widely done across the world as part of pre-employment procedure, as well as prior to accepting tenants. A background check is very helpful and worth doing on new neighbours, new business partners, boyfriend or girlfriend, fiancée, and office associates.
Checking the background of individuals has averted many untoward events like robberies, sexual abuse, fraud, and various criminal activities. It is hard to tell what people are capable of doing, no matter how innocent and harmless they look. It is for this reason that background check on people is normally done by many individuals today.
Take The Pre-emptive Step Before Its Too Late
There are many reasons why companies and individuals conduct the background check on people. Among the business sectors, this is crucial for the preservation of the company’s reputation and image. Just imagine the consequences that companies will get if they hire someone with criminal history, records of fraudulent activities, and sexual abuse. These things will be eventually associated with the company, thereby damaging not only its image but also the business performance.
In fact, some States have mandated several employers to conduct pre-employment background check, especially in the transportation and security sectors. This is to ensure that employees holding crucial positions like drivers and pilots, where lives of others are at stake, have clean records devoid of history of using illegal drugs and alcohol abuse.
For individuals especially home owners planning to rent a portion of their house, hiring tenants with history of felony charges will not only put their lives at risk, but also the lives of everyone in the household including the surrounding neighbours. Even if you have no tenants in the house and you are living alone with your family, this will not exempt you from the need to conduct the background check.
It is similarly important to know the people around your neighbourhood. There might be new neighbours around and you cannot tell if these people who just moved in have done criminal activities in past. It helps to know who they are to ensure your safety and the well being of your family. This is particularly important if you have children.
Kids love to play outdoor games. They sometimes walk around and play within the neighbourhood, or walk just few distances from home to school and vice-versa. No one can tell what can happen along the way on a beautiful sunny day. New neighbours with history of sexual abuse can take advantage of situations when you are not around. It is for all these reasons that a background check is essential.
Crime Rate Facts You Should Know
According to the most recent census based on 2009 data, a total of around 3466 crime incidences occured in every population of 100,000. While this number is down from 5950 in 1980, such incidences are still high.
If you happen to be in a neighbourhood with a population of 100,000, that means there are about 3466 people within the vicinity with history of felony, rape, robbery, physical assault, and other crimes. Sounds, scary right? This makes you at risk if you are alone in the street at night. But if you know most of the people in your community and who you are dealing with, through a background check, you can reduce such risk.
How to Conduct the Background Check on People?
There are several options to choose from when it comes to conducting a background investigation on someone. There are free methods, and there are also paid methods.
People will obviously opt for the free technique. This is simple and fast, and it requires no expenses. Some of the popular methods of conducting the free background investigation are as follows.
- Google it up. Use the internet and Google the name of the person; you might end up getting a brief profile of the individual. You are lucky if you can find the resume of the person posted in one of the jobs sites. Aside from Google, you can also check the social networking sites like Facebook. Checking the profile and online activities of the individual can help you better know the person. However, with this method there is more likely that your luck will run out if the person you are investigating has no online presence at all.
- Visit the public records office in your area. Criminal records are normally posted and disseminated to the public by the local government. This is done for safety reasons. In some States, the records can be found in the Office of Public Health and Safety, while in other areas the designated government agency is the Office of the Vital Statistics.
- Visit other government agencies. Aside from the above agencies, you may also request for the said information from the Police Department in your area, from Courthouses, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). These agencies usually have databases of criminal records of people in their respective area of assignment.
While the above choices of conducting the background check are free, the entire investigation process usually takes time and a lot of efforts; not to mention the costs of transportation in going to the respective offices to make the request.
If time is essential on your part, the paid methods present better alternative. You can hire the services of private detectives who shall conduct the investigation on your behalf. This is going to be quite expensive, but not a big problem if you have lots of excess money to spend on.
The practical choice is to opt for doing the background check on your own, with total privacy in your home. There are websites owned by credible companies that allow you to gain access to their huge database of public records that include criminal and jail records. Subscription to their services may be required to gain access to the database, but the required amount is normally minimal compared to the safety benefits they provide.
It doesn’t matter which option you choose. What is important is that you are able to conduct the background check as deemed necessary. The most recommended and popular choice is to subscribe to the online services of third party companies where you can instantly conduct the investigation anytime you want, and wherever you are as long as you have your laptop or wireless mobile device with internet connectivity.
