Criminal Background Check

At least once during your childhood, you’ve surely been asked by your parents or elders to not talk to strangers. As you grew older, you probably got a better understanding of their warning. Like the fact that not all people are who they say they are.

While there’s an innate faith in humanity within all of us, due to varying reasons, we tend to be selfish at times. Some people, however, take it too far and violate the laws meant to protect us.

Criminal history records are typically initially undisclosed, especially at first meetings. Some go through various hassles only to get this information expunged. This is why initiating a thorough criminal background check is recommended when you’re dealing with confidential data, sensitive matters, or high-risk processes.

What Is A Criminal Background Check?

A criminal background search refers to the process of looking into someone’s records of interaction with any law enforcement agency. You can acquire access to an individual’s arrest records, the conviction of felonies, misdemeanors, court records, prison terms, and other valuable criminal history reports. There are also certain criminal background check laws in place to govern data collection, distribution, and usage.

Local or national instant criminal background checking agencies are bound to abide by federal laws like the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Both of these major laws were implemented to ensure accuracy and fairness, as well as to prevent discrimination and false judgments. So for instance, if your employer initiated an FBI criminal record request, rest assured that your employee and human rights won’t be abused.

Background checks are typically conducted by the FBI, the State Police, or the State Department of Public Safety. These searches, however, could also be initiated through third-party search engines like ClickSearch. Similar to official government agencies, we collate data from valid sources like the national sex offender registry to ensure we only provide complete and up-to-date information.

Our report would also contain any criminal activity, including traffic violations, alcohol or drug arrests, and even business-related crimes like tax fraud or evasion. All these are accessible after starting a trial or purchase a full membership. Also, reports could be viewed or downloaded from any internet-enabled device, anytime anywhere.

Reasons To Run A Criminal Background Search

There are several reasons why one might request a background search. From personal purposes to hiring decisions to business matters. After all, criminal searches, like a complete and error-free FBI background check, offer valuable information that could be useful in different ways. Despite a person’s reasons for requesting one, these reports surely provide great value and serve several purposes.

To give you an overview of what a background check is and why it’s important, here are the most common reasons why one would request a search.

Identity Verification

Criminal history reports could also contain an individual’s personal information. It could show you one’s full name, aliases, relatives, contacts, addresses, and other personally identifiable information. Hence, these reports could greatly help in verifying and validating a person’s identity.

Qualifications and Eligibility

When you run a criminal background check, you get a better grasp of a person’s skills, qualifications, and professional experiences. This is because, aside from personal information, reports also show details of education and employment history. It’s probably the reason why most background searches are requested by employers and/or business owners - to validate if someone is, indeed, eligible for the job.

Safety and Security

Overall, criminal record checks are utilized as an additional safety and security measure - regardless of whether it’s for personal or business reasons. By thoroughly screening the people you work with or see in person, you’re steered away from any possible danger. Also, if you’re an entrepreneur, an in-depth search on people you do business with or hire is important. You'll not only secure your business but also the safety of employees, clients, and/or customers.

What Does A Criminal Background Check Include?

Certain sites offer a free criminal background check or at least a free trial for a certain period. But like most services, free doesn’t always mean best. Even government agencies charge nominal fees when conducting these searches.

Regardless if you’re requesting a free/paid full criminal background check, the data included on the reports is what should matter. For instance, with ClickSearch, though you’ll be asked to first settle a reasonable fee, we guarantee great value for your money through the detailed reports offered.

Arrest Records

Arrest records show all suspected crimes that an individual has been arrested for. Details included are the type of arrest, the reason for arrest, date and time of the arrest, location of the arrest, and other relevant information about the arrest.

Misdemeanors and Felonies

Felonies are the most serious crimes which could result in longer sentences, higher fines, or permanent loss of freedom. Misdemeanors, on the other hand, are the less serious crimes that usually involve shorter jail time, smaller penalties, and temporary punishments. Crime checks would reveal committed and charged crimes regardless if it’s a felony or just a misdemeanor.

Accused and Convicted Crimes

Convictions or even just accusations would reflect on one’s criminal history report. The most common accused and convicted crimes included are burglaries, traffic violations, fraud, arson, embezzlement, and murder.

Who Can Benefit From Doing Criminal Background Reports?

A criminal record check, from the basic criminal background checks to the more extensive FBI records checks, is a perfect way to dig into someone’s criminal past. There are many instances where a background check report could come in handy. Initiating a criminal background check on someone is most beneficial to the following:

Business Owners

Building a business requires guts, great effort, and resources. Therefore, be very careful of who you let into your business, whether it be partners or employees. Every business owner knows that the employees are one’s best assets, but only if you hire the right ones.

A criminal background report will help make sure your business and other employees won’t be in jeopardy or harm’s way just.

Landlords

The initial interview with a prospective tenant could always go well, but that doesn’t always mean the person will be a great tenant. You owe it to your family or other tenants to ensure their safety. A background check will be a most reassuring way in filtering out the dangerous and/or shady people from renting your place.

Real Estate Agencies

If you are in the real-estate business, a quick background check will ensure every client dealt with is qualified to get a property. Taking on a client with shady qualifications and a criminal past that would clash with the responsibilities of getting a property could hurt your business. Don’t let all your hard work go to waste, initiate a criminal background check for the sake of all parties involved.

Online Daters

Online dating has become rather popular; while some do find lifetime partners this way, there are still a lot of people that utilize online dating platforms to take advantage of others. It is always wise to do some research or background checks before meeting up with someone in person. Also, before you take it further, a more in-depth background checking would be a wise move.

Increase Your Safety

As we advance in so many ways as a society, unfortunately, dangers and other safety threats also evolve. Some dangers come in the form of a seemingly innocent and trustworthy person. Performing a background check is an easy and convenient way to ensure you only let the right people into your life.

How Long Does A Criminal Background Check Take?

Criminal background reports, from their contents to the time frame of release, may vary from state to state. This is due to several factors like:

• State Laws
• Government agency rules
• Nature of the record
• Availability of the record

There are criminal records websites in some states where anyone can acquire information. In most cases, a request form must be submitted via mail, email, or phone to the record-holding office to initiate the process. Some agencies may even require requests to be made in person. Time frames of copies of a public record could be as short as 3 business days and as long as 10 business days or even longer.

Here’s a general idea of the time frames of various background checks.

National Instant Criminal Background Check

The national instant criminal background check was launched by the FBI which is required on federally licensed firearms dealers before going through with a sale. Results come back within minutes; though some may take longer. Reports should be received within three days of the sale going through.

Criminal Background Checks

Most background checks, particularly those on the local level would only take from 3 days to one week. Federal or FBI criminal background checks will usually take 30 days.

Employment Criminal Background Checks

Employers are required by law to obtain consent from job applicants before initiating a criminal background check. Reports may depend on the nature of the position; in some states, this process could take from 30 to 60 days.

Criminal Record Check Success Stories

I have a small apartment building and I used to go for the 100 percent free criminal background check offers online as part of the tenant screening. While I was screening tenants for recently vacated units, my friend suggested that I use ClickSearch instead.

I did and dodged a lot of proverbial bullets. Many of my prospective tenants turned out to have criminal history records which may put my other tenants ill at ease. Since I started using ClickSearch, I am more assured that all my tenants are safe from each other.

- Marcus Todd, Business Owner

I tried online dating. I am naturally careful, so I run my matches through ClickSearch to weed out those with shady characters. It was certainly one of my best decisions as I am now happy with a man who passed my ClickSearch check with flying colors.

- Adelaide Hatcher, Receptionist