THE IMPORTANCE OF REDUNDANCY IN CRIMINAL RECORD CHECKING

A key concept in conducting a thorough criminal background check is the concept of redundancy – checking more than one data source for the same geographical area. The reason for this is errors may exist in one of the sources. Another has to do with the way the data is organized as a database, which may allow one source to bring back information that the other misses.

Here’s an example of a using redundancy: A criminal background check is being done on a person in Orange County, California. The background investigator will run the subject through a commercial public record source, like Crime Smasher, and directly through the Orange County Superior Court website as well. Crime Smasher includes Orange County criminal records but by running both, the investigator has bought a measure of insurance that nothing has been missed.

In summary, different data sources can frequently provide different results and when thoroughness is needed, checking overlapping information sources is an important step, when possible, to fully uncover a subject’s criminal history.

Model Private Sector "Best Practices" Criminal Background Check

Conclusion: The Role of Internet-based Criminal Record Searches

About the Author and Disclaimer

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