Conduct Background Checks for Protection

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As a security professional and owner of several small businesses, I understand the importance of conducting background checks on my employees. One of my companies employs over 100 security officers and, for several years, I was content on a standard state police background check. After securing an account with a school district, at which we would provide security personnel, I thought it best to improve upon the manner in which we conducted our background checks. In addition, my staff would begin conducting random background checks of our staff during the course of their employment.

Although I and my staff were confident in our state’s ability to accurately document in the background check any and all relevant arrests within our state, we were not comfortable in the fact that many of our employees had at one time lived outside of our state. Determined to provide qualified law abiding security officers to our new client, as well as to our existing clients, we began the arduous task of investigating each and every security officer in our employ. Since this was prior to the advent of online background screening services, the task at hand required us to pull each file, contact references, find all out-of-state addresses, contact employers to find gaps in employment, make contact with police departments, request documents from courts and/or background checks from the state of residency. After several days of intense investigation, all employees had been thoroughly checked, a few fired and the process started all over again for newly hired employees. A time consuming process, but well justified in an industry that expects only the best and most trusted employees.

Today, conducting background checks on employees, family members, boyfriends, girlfriends and neighbors doesn’t have to be confined to an industry or to a specific reason. As a matter of fact, conducting background checks on those near and dear to you should be a right that all of us exercise on a regular basis. How often, in the midst of a homicide investigation, is it learned that a loved one wasn’t who he or she appeared to be? How often, in the midst of a financial scandal, do we hear from a news reporter that the suspect had been previously arrested three times in other states for robbing elderly women of their life savings?

In a previous post about eliminating yourself from the Suspect + Victim Equation, I strongly advocate a heightened sense of awareness. As you begin to take notice of all of the things around you that you have for years taken for granted, pay close attention to the people you associate with, both near and afar. Start to listen to your senses and pay closer attention to your perception. How long have you felt that your mom’s new boyfriend was just too good to be real? How long have you discounted the strange behavior of your daughter’s new boyfriend or wondered how your neighbor has so much money when he’s unemployed? If a situation doesn’t appear to be right, chances are likely something is amiss.

Just recently a new neighbor moved in. Within months, I observed two police cars parked in front of my neighbor’s house and my neighbors son being hauled away in handcuffs. Obtaining the son’s date of birth from the police report, I conducted my own background check. To my surprise, his son is a career criminal and had only been released from prison shortly before becoming my neighbor. Although I had suspected something from day one, since the son was thirty years old, lived at home and didn’t work, I would have never guessed he was a convicted felon with over a dozen arrests during the two years prior to his incarceration.

Background checks help us to protect our business, our families and our way of life. If I was in charge of creating “life laws”, number one on the list would be that everyone carry a current nationwide background check to be surrendered to anyone who requests it. Not that I condone double jeopardy or the inhumane treatment of an individual because he or she chose the wrong path in life, I just want to know about those whom I may choose to allow into my life. And, you should want to know as well.

If you have any doubts about an employee, a friend, family member or neighbor, conduct your own background check. For less than $20, you may be able to save someone from serious bodily injury or financial ruin.

Click Here to Conduct Your Background Check