Moore Information Services

COLUMBUS, Ohio–On Monday, the Ohio State Highway Patrol was still waiting on the list of hundreds of fair employees needed to run background checks. When the Patrol starts background checks, they start out by running each employee through a want and warrant check. This is followed up by a look at the National Sex Offender Registry, The Franklin County Municipal Court Records Database and finally The Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections Database.

A spokesperson told NBC 4’s Paul Stelzer today that all fair employees have been checked and the checks turned up no sex offenders and no felony warrants. Private contractors at the fair run their own background checks on their employees. One father told Stelzer that no background check can take the place of parental supervision.

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As former Lansing camp counselor Myron Knox sits in jail, charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old female camper, questions are arising as to what goes into the background checks before these counselors are hired.

But department of parks and recreation couldn’t tell us.

"I don’t know what exactly goes into the criminal background checks," says Murdock Jemerson, director of the Parks and Recreation department.

So we set to find out– and city Human Resources director Terri Singleton says they begin with a slew of background checks.

"They can include driving records, criminal background checks, sex offender registries, physicals," she lists.

Those checks, except for the physicals, are done by the Lansing Police Department.

"If there’s something out there, we’re going to find that," says Lt. Noel Garcia."If we see something that’s a red flag, we’ll point that out."

"Because we’re dealing with children, we probably exclude anyone with a misdemeanor or a felony," Singleton says, though she says a minor misdemeanor, like a traffic violation,, might pass through.

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They may have taught in Southwest Florida schools for years, but a new law could mean a pink slip for veteran teachers.

Teachers, administrators and others now fall under the Ethics and Education Act, which was passed by the Legislature and went into effect July 1.

The new law requires retroactive checks of the criminal records of teachers and employees in contact with students daily, and bars from employment anyone with any felony conviction for a variety of specified crimes.

Some of those felonies are obvious disqualifications for employment around minors: sexual crimes against children, abuse and neglect and other violent crimes. Still, other crimes that are now left to the judgment of the district will be automatic disqualifications for employment.

Though everyone seemed to agree that student safety is paramount, some worry that the retroactive checks could end otherwise stellar careers over a mistake that might have been made before the person was a school district employee.

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Tempe, AZ (PRWEB) July 26, 2008 — "In today’s world, employers are smart to be cautious on who they hire into their companies," states Ann E. Zaslow-Rethaber of International Search Consultants (ISC), a leading executive search firm that specializes in the sales and marketing industry on a nationwide as well as international basis. "Many employers are now conducting more detailed background checks for their white collar positions and by doing so, they can reduce their costs in the long run and put their company less at risk," she states.

If you are an employer who has yet to go beyond the standard screening process, Zaslow-Rethaber provides below answers to some questions you may have regarding conducting more extensive background checks.

•    Why should I go beyond the standard background check? It is important more than ever due to the rise in negligent hiring lawsuits (particularly for workplace violence and sexual harassment incidents), recent corporate scandals and national security concerns since the 9/11 terrorist act. Moreover, it is less time consuming than before to check public records now that they are readily available on the internet. Lastly, by verifying that someone has provided false information on a job application or has a shady history gives a window into a person’s character and should be included in the overall job screening process.

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Aldermen took a stab Thursday at curtailing the decades-old practice of cash changing hands for Chicago building permits by recommending that middlemen in the process obtain licenses requiring a criminal-background check.

The City Council Building Committee approved a licensing ordinance, complete with fingerprinting, two months after the arrest of 15 people on federal bribery charges related to getting City Hall permits.

Most of those 15 cases in Operation Crooked Code involved the bribing of city inspectors by a former expediter, prosecutors said. In exchange, inspectors are alleged to have ignored problems, fabricated reports and sped up paperwork.

"Hopefully, it will get some of the bad eggs out of the business," Committee Chairman Bernard Stone (50th) said of the proposal, which will go before the full council Wednesday. If approved, it would take effect 120 days later.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Another camp season is passing by without the state having the authority to enforce background checks on employees at residential camps across Ohio.

A bill that would add teeth to enforcement provisions in current law stalled when the state Legislature broke for the summer in June without passing it.

Bill sponsor State Sen. Steve Stivers, a Republican who is running for Congress to replace U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce, said in late April he hoped he could pass the bill before the start of summer camp season.

It’s failure to pass has become fodder for election-year politics. The Women’s Caucus of the Ohio Democratic Party sent a letter to Stivers earlier this month telling him, "Because of your failure to act, Columbus kids are still at risk."

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Torstar News Service
He’s been out of prison for 20 years, but Byron’s criminal past still defines him. Jobs are hard to find and even harder to keep.

"They (employers) all do criminal checks . . . if you sign the piece of paper," says the 57-year-old Toronto resident, whose last sentence was a six-year stretch in Kingston Penitentiary following a series of robbery and related convictions. Because of his past he’s lost jobs driving a forklift and working in a warehouse.

"I’ve been at places where five or six people – the personnel, head of personnel, my foreman – (all said) `no problem,’ but somebody else would step in and you’d be gone."

Byron, who asked that his last name not be used, is not alone in getting tripped up by police background checks.

For decades, few employers besides law enforcement agencies and some government offices delved into past conduct. Now it is standard practice. Companies, volunteer organizations – particularly those that work with children, the elderly or disabled – regulators, landlords and schools are all asking applicants to agree to police checks.

"Ever since Sept. 11 it seems like paranoia is creeping in," says Ian Levine of Pardons Canada, a not-for-profit company that, for $460 plus tax, handles all the paperwork for people seeking to expunge their criminal record. "Pretty soon . . . you’re not going to get any job, you’re not going to be a dog walker."

More than 2.9 million people have records in the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC), according to a one-day snapshot of the database from 2005 obtained by the Star in a freedom of information request. Included were some 500,000 records for people without convictions, including instances where charges were stayed, withdrawn or for which the individual was found not guilty.

Police can view these "non-conviction dispositions" but the RCMP does not "generally" release that information to employers or border guards, said a spokesperson for RCMP, which maintains the database. The federal Criminal Records Act prohibits police from disclosing convictions for which a pardon has been granted.

But there are ways employers – and others – can check if you’ve been charged but not convicted.

"Private investigation agencies are often hired to check the backgrounds of new employees in relation to charges for which someone may not have been convicted," says retired Toronto police detective Al Duncan, who operates Toronto P.I. "Everyone who is charged at some point has information sworn against them in court. That information is a public record if you know how to track it down."

In addition, employers can check local police records. In doing such a background check, the local force may contact other police departments in Canada and the United States.

"The range of information in police databases may vary considerably," says an Ontario Information and Privacy Commission backgrounder posted on the agency’s website.

Toronto police, for instance, keep fingerprints, photographs and records for non-convictions even though the Commission has argued those records should be destroyed. That is impractical as there are 140,000 charges brought before Toronto courts annually, of which 45 per cent result in non-conviction, Police Chief Bill Blair said in a report to the police services board last fall, the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition reported in its September 2007 bulletin.

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A Chatsworth pupil got hooked on drugs in his matric year. And the easy availability of dagga from his peers made it harder for him to kick the habit.

The teenager, who once had a razor-sh

arp mind, said although he had passed his exams, he would have scored higher marks had drugs not affected his concentration.

The boy, who is now on a rehabilitation programme, said, "I used to be dazed and unable to concentrate. I started smoking zol, then went on to Sugars. It wrecked my life and I only decided to give up when I got caught. Drugs have different effects on different people. They can make you sad, happy, reserved or violent."

It is such stories that have spurred Education Minister Naledi Pandor to take a hard-line approach to pupils using drugs at school.

Random drug testing at schools is being instituted to safeguard both teachers and pupils.

The department of education has identified drugs as the key cause of school violence, said department spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele.

He said a Bill had been tabled last year and a team was reviewing public comment on drug testing devices.

"They will make recommendations to the minister, who will send out the guidelines in a form or circular. The law gives principals or people designated by them the power to search and conduct spot checks if there is reasonable suspicion that pupils are using drugs," Ngqengelele said.

But principals who are yet to receive the circulars are worried that teachers could become soft targets for deviant children and drug lords.

Principals are not willing to risk the welfare and safety of their teachers and urge that other strategies be devised, said Tongaat Principals’ Association chairman Peru Naidu.

"It is well known that teachers are labouring under severe stress in schools with regard to workloads and extra duties. Many are off sick for weeks on end. Principals would be hard-pressed to pile further pressure on their teachers, especially when there are threats to life and limb," Naidu said.

He said drug taking had to be seen in the context of school security.

"We should look at the causes rather than the symptoms and take steps to be proactive rather than be merely reactionary."

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A snap survey of the drug problem in schools had established that substance abuse varied in extent from one school to the next.

The type of drugs pupils use had recently shifted. Sugars were once high on the list but dagga, cigarettes and other drugs now seem more popular, according to principals.

They said many girls and boys were now being found under the influence of alcohol, which was either brought to school and drunk during the day or before the pupils arrived. More serious was drug peddling by pupils.
 

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COLORADO SPRINGS - There’s a growing tend in the number of employers going above and beyond the resume to check on potential candidates.