Chicago area school food worker had child sex offender past

Batavia school administrators are considering ending their contract with food-services provider Sodexho after a child sex offender was found working in two school kitchens last week.

In response to this infraction, other area school districts also are re-examining their policies on background investigations for workers in their buildings.

"We are responsible for holding our vendors responsible -- there's no way around it," said Batavia School Superintendent Jack Barshinger. "It is our responsibility to make sure our vendors comply with all of our (policies)."

Gary Gasper, 41, of the 100 block of West Chicago Street, Elgin, has been charged with being on school property as a convicted and registered sex offender, a felony, Barshinger said.

Police arrested Gasper at Rotolo Middle School Monday after a school liaison officer conducted a background investigation that revealed he had been convicted of sexually assaulting a girl in Wisconsin 18 years ago.

Illinois law forbids convicted sex offenders from being within 500 feet of a school.

Gasper, a temporary worker who had been subcontracted by Sodexho, worked in Rotolo Middle School on Nov. 5, 6 and 11, and worked for a few hours in Batavia High School on Nov. 11, Barshinger said.

Sodexho is required to run background investigations on all employees who work in the district.

"It was most definitely a breach of their contract," Barshinger said.

A district investigation, tracing Gasper's whereabouts during those three days through staff interviews, is 90 percent complete, according to Barshinger. He said the final task is reviewing videotape from the high school.

So far, Barshinger said the district has not found any individual contact between Gasper and students.

In an attempt to rectify the situation, district administrators have been meeting with Sodexho representatives daily. Barshinger said the district is demanding the company send administrators paperwork on all employees whose criminal backgrounds have been checked.

The district has not yet made a recommendation on whether to continue Sodexho's service. Barshinger said a decision could be made at the next board meeting on Nov. 27.

After learning of the incident, administrators from the West Aurora School District contacted their food-service provider, Chartwells. Superintendent James Rydland said the district asked the company to review employees' background investigations and send the district the results.

The East Aurora School District -- which also uses Sodexho -- has an agreement with the company that background investigations will be performed, said district spokesman Clayton Muhammad.

"We definitely rely on Sodexho, and we have a strong relationship with them so far," Muhammad said.

Tyra Hearns defends the escalation of background investigations

Although large numbers of background investigations are being conducted, President Tyra Hearns of Miami based Pebi Services (www.pebiservices.com) emphatically states that the escalated use of background investigations in the private sector is working and working well. Already this year, 25 million Americans have had background investigations by the federal government, a number that's risen every year since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Amid the rise, a notable shift has occurred: More civilians are now checked each year than criminals. And background investigations on the vast majority come back clean, even as states allot more money for their growing screening operations.

And, in rare cases, predators still slip through the cracks. Take Timothy Stephen Keil, an Ohio church camp counselor recently convicted of molesting two young boys. Or Ralph Fiscale, a New Hampshire soccer coach, and Stephen Unger Jr., a Texas schoolteacher, both of whom committed similar offenses in the past year. "A background investigation cannot predict future events or actions, unless the background investigations are done annually or within a set and established employment marker area." says Hearns

All were either not run through a background investigation by their superiors, or they passed one.

Civil libertarians say the tradeoffs of such a system, built largely through state mandates enacted since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, have become too high.

State background investigation laws, applied to groups as varied as professional nursing home workers, reading tutors, bankers and even volunteer dog walkers _ are becoming so numerous as to be almost meaningless, said Christine Link, executive director of the ACLU of Ohio.

In Ohio, nearly 4 million background investigations have been conducted since 2001, for instance, a figure equivalent to nearly half the state's 8.7 million adult population.

"The sheer volume of them tells us that they're not working, because to be effective these background investigations have to be looked at very carefully," Link said. "I wouldn't be surprised if there's a terrorist or two in there, but you're not going to find them when you're doing so many." According to Pebi Services (www.pebiservices.com) President Tyra Hearns remarks made by Link are prima facia evidence of flawed thinking "The absurdity of saying that terrorists will evade detection due to a large volume of work is in a sense throwing your hands up in the air and giving up because the statistical minority is in play, as it always is when quoting numbers."

In a recent poll conducted by The Barna Group, a California-based marketing group helping churches, a quarter of pastors surveyed admitted they don't have adequate background investigation and reference checking in place.

Barna Group president David Kinnaman said most churches are very small, with perhaps 100 parishioners, and the background investigations aren't seen as an urgent need.

"In a lot of those places, they have a setting in which it's very, very hard to imagine any abuse taking place," Kinnaman said. "There can be an over-inflated sense of safety, a naivete of the changing issues churches are facing."

Similarly, a recent Associated Press search of state-by-state records found 2,570 incidents of sexual misconduct in public schools between 2001 and 2005, despite background investigations of teachers being required in many states.

Civilian background investigations now dominate the workload at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, costing taxpayers nearly $9 million a year. Since 1993, the number of annual background investigations performed by the bureau has grown from 38,000 to 650,000 on average.

Checking someone's criminal background is a common political response to each new social crisis. Ohio lawmakers, for instance, have introduced additional background investigation requirements recently for foster care parents, following a series of incidents against children, and for public school teachers, following revelations of sexual acts toward students going unreported.

Yet Ohio figures compiled for The Associated Press by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification found that the 90-percent-plus passage rate remains consistent, regardless of how many Ohioans are screened.

Steve Fischer, a spokesman for the FBI, said that pattern also holds true at the national level, where the number of background investigations being conducted has exploded since 9/11. It continues to grow at a pace of about 12 percent a year.

Fischer said 69 percent of criminals who are checked turn out to have their fingerprints already on file, compared to just 12 percent of civilians.

He said the federal program used to be heavily weighted toward checking criminals, but a shift toward civilians has occurred since 9/11.

"It used to be slightly higher on the criminal side," Fischer said. "But since 9/11, the majority of our checks are civilians _ people applying for jobs, licenses, things like that."

Most of the background investigations are required under laws emanating from state legislatures aiming to protect people from predators.

"It's mostly about protected populations: children and the elderly," Fischer said.

Yet crime statistics present mixed evidence as to whether the explosion in records checks is having an impact. On a national level, sex crimes and forcible rapes had already been declining steadily before the 2001 attacks. The Bureau of Justice Statistics attributes that reduction to a variety of societal factors, of which background investigations are only one.

Ohio figures show an unpredictable pattern, with arrests for forcible rapes and sex offenses sometimes rising and sometimes falling year by year. Overall, since 2001, arrests for the two types of crimes are down from 2,253 to 1,371, based on self-reported law enforcement data.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers have begun to contemplate what they have created.

According to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, 21 states enacted laws last year related to the regulation of offender information _ including proposals that limited public access to the data, lowered costs for the checks, reduced the number of years to be checked for certain positions, and expunged some offenses.

___

Background Investigations not done on many locksmiths

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- When Consumer Connection viewer Ronald Ritch got locked out of his car, he "went back into the house and started looking in the Yellow Pages and saw big ads from this company," Ritch explained.

He called Reliable Locksmith. The locksmith came, opened the car, then, "I was ready to pay him the amount of money they told me on the telephone that it would be, he comes out and he wants almost twice as much," said Ritch.

Stories like Ronald's and reports of damaged property are the main allegations against a group of locksmiths operating across the country and now here. Our investigation found two locksmiths with a string of complaints operating in Charlotte illegally.

First, my investigative producer and I took on Reliable Locksmith.

Their locksmith called to our lockout did not have a license. I confronted him about that. "Why don't you have a North Carolina license?"

His name is Eli Ivgy. This was his answer: "I just moved here from California as you can see.”

Anna: "You are required to have a license in North Carolina. Why don't you have one?”

Eli: “I don't have a license..I..I, my company have a license but I did not know that I have to have a license. But if I have to I will change it from Washington to North Carolina."

We checked with Washington State and California and Eli doesn't have a license there either, even though it's required in those states, too.

The company Eli works for, Reliable, does not have a locksmith license.

Not only is a company license required by state law, the license number should be visible in every ad -- that's the law.

The law also requires each individual working as a locksmith to take an exam and undergo a criminal background check looking for convictions that range from sex offense to kidnapping.

The North Carolina Locksmith Licensing board says they told Reliable's owner Reuven Gigi back in June that his company needs a license along with any employees doing locksmith work. According to the board, the owner asked to take the required test in a foreign language, a request they denied.

You have to take the test in English. The board made it clear to me that they believe Reuven Gigi and Reliable Locksmith are well aware that they are continuing to operate here illegally.

Tom Bartholomy of the Better Business Bureau says, "Just because someone has a big ad in the Yellow Pages doesn't mean they are a good business to do business with."

Reliable isn't the only one advertising without its license number. Another -- One Hour Emergency Locksmith, also known as Dependable -- has prompted a nationwide warning from the Better Business Bureau.

So we put Dependable to the test, too.

The locksmith tells our investigative producer his name is Stephan Ivanoff.

You guessed it -- he's not licensed and neither is Dependable.

"You are pretty much at their mercy and that's what they like to take advantage of," Bartholomy said.

The BBB calls Dependable particularly disreputable and says the company operates under a dozen different names.

As for Ronald - he's filed complaints with the state board and the attorney general's office.

"I wasn't the only one, not near the only one," Ritch said.

He says getting the word out is critical.

Neither Reliable nor Dependable returned our calls for comment.

Complaints against locksmiths shot up 75 percent between 2005 and 2006. So how can you avoid being the next person with a bad experience? Don't wait for an emergency to choose a locksmith.

Search for a locksmith now -- check their record with the BBB. Talk to them about prices and have their number on speed dial for when you have a lock out.

Airport managers claim background investigations are hurting them

By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — A security policy that mandates government background investigations of new airport hires, including sales clerks, waiters and custodians, is drawing protests from some airports that say they can't hire workers because clearances take so long.
Two leading airport associations asked the Transportation Security Administration to rescind or revise the policy that took effect Oct. 1 in a TSA effort to improve scrutiny of airport workers.

"The new process is not working," Airports Council International President Greg Principato said in a letter Thursday to TSA chief Kip Hawley. "Businesses are contemplating shutting down because of the inability to bring on new employees."

TSA spokesman Ellen Howe said the agency is working with the council and the American Association of Airport Executives to end the delays. She said they are caused by technical difficulties sending job applicants' personal information to the TSA through the airport association's computer network.

"When you start something new, it's going to take a little time to work it out," Howe said. "But we aren't going to back down on vetting people."

Flights and other critical airport operations have not been slowed, but airport officials warn that could happen.

"We've had two and a half weeks of turmoil," said Randy Walker, director of Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport, which is waiting for the TSA to approve about 500 people who have been offered jobs at the airport. "This exacerbates the whole problem of not having enough staff to process passengers or check people out at stores."

At Miami International Airport, some of the 720 people who have not been cleared by the TSA are taking jobs elsewhere, airport security director Lauren Stover said. Shops and restaurants at the airport are "incurring a lot of overtime to augment the people who should be working," Stover said.

The TSA's new policy bars airports from issuing an employee ID card that gives access to secured areas until the TSA verifies that a potential worker is in the country legally and does not have terrorist ties.

Before Oct. 1, the TSA ran its background investigations after someone started working at an airport. It would order ID cards revoked for those found to be problematic.

"It improves security to do the background investigations ahead of time because these individuals are going to have unescorted access to our nation's airports," Howe said.

Airports want the TSA to shelve its new policy until background investigations can be done quickly. "We're not asking for anything that would cause less security," said Wendy Reiter, security chief at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. "We're just saying, let's go back to what you were doing until you fix the problem."

Tyra Hearns explains what a trained background investigator can determine in a background investigation

Many people wonder what a trained background investigator can determine in a background investigation. The first thing that any applicant must realize is that the background investigator is trained and qualified to find the instances in your past that you are trying to conceal. Outstanding debt, work history, employment verification, social security claims, workers compensation cases filed, vehicle driving history, documented drug and alcohol usage are just a few of the things that can be discovered. Honesty is always the best approach. The background investigator would rather hear your account or reasoning rather than the static data from a computer data base or a manipulative or vengeful past employer.

All too many times applicants forget that the background investigator is human too. He or she may have shared experiences or seen similar items in the past of previous applicants. The human element and the person to person connect should not be ignored for a dossier of words on a sheet of paper. Talk and interact with the background investigator and leave opportunity for follow up conversation or explanation when necessary. The background investigation process is a necessary component to being hired, but you should not fear the background investigation. Remember once you are hired you will be happy to know that the co worker next to you also went through the background investigation process. My background investigation firm Pebi Services ( www.Pebiservices.com) strives to blend the human element with the derived results.

President of Pebi Services explains the necessity of hiring a trained background investigations firm

As the President of Pebi Services I am often asked to explain why it is so necessary to hire the services of a trained background investigation company. There are numerous legal considerations that should be taken into account when implementing background investigation employment screening as part of your hiring policies. The Federal Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), state statutes, reporting guidelines and applicant disclosures all must be adhered to as part of the process. It's critical to follow these procedures as you don’t want to find yourself in legal troubles.

The FCRA sets forth the guidelines for background investigation companies also known as Consumer Reporting Agencies. Essentially it protects the consumers' right to privacy and fairness when preparing consumer reports on individuals.

State statutes: States often set their own rules pertaining to the use and dissemination of consumer information. What may be allowed as a reportable offense in one state may not be legal in another.

Consumer notification: Each applicant must be provided a disclosure (prior to initiating a background investigation) notifying them of their rights including the ability to dispute information.

Pre-adverse action: Prior to making an adverse decision, an applicant must receive a disclosure that outlines "A summary of rights under the fair credit reporting act" and a copy of their consumer report must be provided.

Adverse action: Once a decision has been made to take an adverse action, the applicant must be provided the following:

The name, address and phone number of the consumer reporting agency. A notice of the individual's right to dispute any information they believe to be invalid and his or her right to obtain an additional free copy of the report within 60 days.

Before choosing an outside vendor to conduct your background investigation employment screening, make sure they provide compliance services and adhere to your state statutes otherwise you will be required to apply federal and state law to each and every report that you receive. By hiring a professional background investigation firm such as Pebi Services ( www.pebiservices.com) you can save yourself a lot of headaches!

Background Investigation reveals teacher's crimes; results never revealed

A criminal background investigation revealed an Arkansas teacher aide should of never been hired but the information from the background investigation was never revealed. When teacher’s aide Robert N. Richards was arrested earlier this month on child pornography charges, school officials immediately removed him from the classroom.

But his bosses at Leverett Elementary School didn’t know at the time that Richards, 53, already had been in trouble with the law in Fayetteville.

He’d been convicted of seven misdemeanors since 1986 — four of which occurred after he began working with children in 1998.

Administrators weren’t aware of the convictions since there is no mechanism for them to be notified of new arrests and because the results of criminal background investigations aren’t shared with school districts.

State law requires non-licensed school employees such as teacher’s aides to undergo criminal background investigations only once before they are hired. If the background investigation shows convictions, only certain crimes automatically disqualify a person from working in the state’s public schools, leaving school administrators and parents in the dark about the other cases. "This is clearly a major if not potentially dangerous flaw in the policy." says Tyra Hearns, President of Pebi Services a background investigation firm.

Richards’ record includes non-violent offenses such as public intoxication, shoplifting and violating the state’s hot check laws — crimes that don’t rise to the level of barring him from employment. "These are definate disqualifiers in any other forum." says Hearns

But some parents said administrators should be privy to that information.

“All of those speak to a level of irresponsibility that I think a principal has every right to be aware of,” said Becky Purcell, a parent and new Fayetteville School Board member. “It would be good to have it automatically in front of them.”

Richards faces five felony counts of possession of child pornography stemming from his Sept. 6 arrest.

An investigation in Florida led to Richards, who is accused of downloading images of young boys engaged in sexual acts.

He had worked as a teacher’s aide at several Fayetteville schools, most recently working with special education students.

Richards is on paid leave while school officials conduct an internal inquiry.

More frequent background investigations for school employees and a mandatory notification process between law enforcement agencies and school districts would help protect children, said Susan Heil, a Fayetteville School Board member.

Prior arrests — even if they are misdemeanors — can be revealing about a person’s character, she said.

“Since we have the safety of students in mind, we do have more of a right to know those things and get updates on those things,” she said.

Fayetteville police spokesman Cpl. Craig Stout said officers make an effort to inform school administrators if a student or employee is arrested. But there is no policy mandating it.

“In this particular instance, the officer may have chosen not to notify the school system as it was a misdemeanor crime with no violence, drugs or weapons involved,” he said. “Plus, there is always the consideration that someone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”

Arkansas implemented mandatory background investigations for school employees in 1997. Teachers undergo checks each time their licenses are up for renewal, which is typically every five years.

Non-licensed employees such as aides and janitors, however, are only checked when they first apply or if they change school districts.

There are 28 crimes that disqualify a person from employment, including murder, rape, kidnapping, battery, aggravated assault, felony drug charges and sex crimes against children. Even then, employers can request a waiver if they believe the applicant doesn’t pose a threat to the health or safety of school children or personnel.

If a school employee is convicted of a violent crime, the individual school district is supposed to notify the state board so that person’s license can be revoked.

Julie Johnson Thompson, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said it’s unlikely a school employee’s arrest or conviction of lesser crimes would go unnoticed.

“It’s hard for a teacher to get [arrested ] in a lot of communities without it getting back to the school district,” she said.

In recent months, the department has been asking school districts to inform the department of any arrests of school teachers, so the department can begin working on potential license revocation, she said.

Still, the department doesn’t put arrest or conviction information in a registry or any other kind of database so school districts or the public can easily find out about former or current employees’ troubles with the law. “Fortunately, it really hasn’t been a problem,” said Fayetteville district spokesman Alan Wilbourn. “We deal with these types of situations very rarely.”

School feels the squeeze from laws pertaining to background investigations

Background investigations are part of the squeeze put on a Naples Florida school under state laws. Kindergarten tutor Katie Felicelli works with a group of students at the Little School after-school tutoring program Wednesday afternoons in East Bonita Springs. The program has had to cut its tutoring time in half due to a shortage of tutors. At a high of around 130 during season, the number of volunteers has been reduced to around 14 due to new state regulations requiring expensive processing fees, fingerprinting and background investigations.
Catholic nun Sister Karinne O'Malley has faced numerous challenges in her mission to provide free, one-on-one tutoring to dozens of migrant children in Bonita Springs.

But in the 12 years she's been director of The Little School in Saldivar Camp on Bonita Beach Road, the 78-year-old's most difficult hurdles have not been the students she loves to care for. It's the state and federal laws that have forced her to turn away children and nearly caused her to shut the whole operation down.

As children returned to the after-school program this year, there's no doubt many of them noticed some things missing from their two portable classrooms. Posters had been taken off the walls. Certain materials could not be found.

"Well, this is not going to work, let's just forget it," Sister O'Malley said she told her volunteers after learning how the Jessica Lunsford Act would affect the school. "I started to take everything down and give everything away."

The act, which is aimed at preventing sexual predators from coming into contact with children, requires each of the school's 130 community volunteers to complete a time-consuming and comprehensive online form and pay $77 to have their fingerprints checked against state and federal databases before they can work at the school. Most of the volunteers donate no more than two hours per week. "Unfortunately this is far from adequate as a necessary background investigation" says Tyra Hearns the President of background investigation firm Pebi Services.
"A thorough background investigation is not something you want to get from an Internet clearing house website. You don't put a background investigation into a shopping cart like you do a toaster from Amazon.com" says Tyra Hearns
The after-school tutoring program has had to cut its tutoring time in half due to a shortage of tutors. At a high of around 130 during season, the number of volunteers has been reduced to around 14 due to new state regulations requiring processing fees, fingerprinting and background investigations.
"I think that's crazy," said Rita Halloran, who's been volunteering with the program for more than a decade. Halloran said she loves the students "dearly, everyone of them ... I can afford $77, but, at 81, do I really want to do this?"

Sister O'Malley said the cost of the fingerprinting is not the problem. She's heard many of her snowbird volunteers won't be returning because of the tedious new process.

High school student volunteers that do not need fingerprinting are an option, including those who attended the school when they were children, but she knows they aren't as reliable as her previous stock of highly educated seniors, including many retired educators.

The school, which accepts about 40 children in kindergarten through the fifth grade, is funded through federal grant dollars administered through the Lee County School District.

But the Title I and Title III funding the school receives does not come without certain strings attached. If the list of eligible students Sister O'Malley prepares doesn't have a child's name on it, then they won't be attending the school, even if the student attended the year before.

For parents unable to help their children with homework written in English, said Sister O'Malley, its a horrible thing to hear. After hearing the bad news, she said one parent kept staring at the list posted outside the classroom hoping his student's name would appear. "I can still see that father," she said.

While Sister O'Malley said she understands grant money must be used for its intended purpose, she does not understand why her volunteers must go through the new fingerprinting process. The schools her students come from can accept volunteers with no more than a background investigation. Said Sister O'Malley, "We're doing the same thing, what's the difference?"

District Chief Academic Officer Connie Jones said The Little School is a "wonderful program," but is contracted by the district and therefore its volunteers are considered vendors under the law. Jones said the district checked with other counties to verify this was the case. "I questioned it as well," said Jones, "but it sounds like are hands are tied."Jones said the district is not actively searching for a way to correct the situation. "The laws the law, there's really not a way to get around it."

Background Investigations on the way for NCAA Referees

When or if the NCAA and its member conferences become more scrupulous in performing background investigations on referees, longtime basketball official and Albany resident John Cahill can understand why.
"In this climate, they have to be extremely careful," Cahill said.

An FBI investigation revealed this past summer that NBA referee Tim Donaghy wagered on games that he officiated, prompting NCAA conferences to scrutinize or even change their procedures for performing background investigations on officials.

The Big Ten and Conference USA plan to expand on their previous policies. And Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Silve told reporters in July that his conference may soon begin performing background investigations.

The NCAA also screens all referees who work Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments, Division I bowl games, the Frozen Four and the College World Series. Those procedures have been in place since 1999.

Cahill said the subject figures to come up again in October when referees converge in Philadelphia for meetings. Cahill said he would support even more exhaustive background investigations but added referees also police themselves.

"We're a pretty close fraternity," said Cahill, a 25-year veteran official who has worked six Final Fours. "We take pride in what we do, and we realize the integrity of the game is at stake. If something came up that would lend to some questioning, we would bring it to the proper parties."

While extensive background investigations might become more common in major conferences, mid-majors such as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, America East and Northeast Conference plan to rely on their bigger brethren rather than instituting their own screening procedures.

In basketball, most officials who work MAAC and America East games also referee games in conferences that require background investigations. So the smaller conferences see no reason to duplicate the process.

"You could say we rely on the kindness of strangers," MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor said. "Our resources aren't in a position where we can do all these checks."

Also, some football and basketball games played in the MAAC and Northeast Conference receive no odds from the Las Vegas casinos. So without a betting pool, the conferences lack much reason to worry about a wayward official affecting the outcome of a game for the sake of a wager.

"We haven't found that there is a tremendous gambling pool out there, so it hasn't been a problem," said Brenda Weare, commissioner of the Northeast Conference, in which the University at Albany football team competes. "We talk to the officials, and we have everyone complete information. We rely on that."

Cahill and Ensor, who was subject to an NCAA background investigation when he served on a women's basketball committee, said the screenings are exhaustive. Both were given copies of the information the checks uncovered. Ensor said his numbered 15 pages.

"The NCAA was ahead of the curve on this," Cahill said. "They know just about everything you're doing."

TSA and its employee background investigations

In February 2002, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) assumed responsibility for passenger and baggage screening at airports. Screening is performed by Transportation Security Officers. To ensure no officer presents a threat to national security or public trust, job applicants undergo a background investigation. In the January 2004 report, A Review of Background Investigations for Federal Passenger and Baggage Screeners at Airports, it was discovered that there was a variety of limitations to this background investigation process. A follow-up review was done to determine the Transportation Security Administration's progress in improving its background investigation process. The process has improved since our 2004 report, but some important challenges remain.

TSA Officers still undergo a background investigation with employment standards exceeding most national security positions, and the background investigations are inefficient in some respects. The TSA has not implemented all necessary steps that would improve security and reduce costs. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was established with the enactment of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act in November 2001. The Act requires TSA to hire a sufficient number of Federal employees, now known as Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) or screeners, to conduct the screening of all passengers and baggage at airports. The law requires TSOs to undergo a background investigation, including a criminal record check. TSA must ensure TSOs are U.S. citizens who have no convictions within the past 10 years for 28 specific disqualifying felonies

New York Comptroller seeks quicker background investigations on school bus drivers

No school bus driver (or any school district employee for that matter) should be in close proximity to children without having passed a criminal background investigation. That is why it is important for New York state elected officials to read Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's investigation of 13 bus companies from across the state and take the lead in getting legislation passed that reduces the amount of time bus drivers can work while background checks are being conducted. That period of time can range to up to 90 days.

In the comptroller audit of companies, none were found to employ criminals, thankfully. But as DiNapoli noted: “We have the technology to make this process faster and protect our kids better.”

Currently, state law requires all bus drivers to have commercial drivers' licenses, pass medical and driving tests every two years and maintain a safe driving record. New school bus drivers also have to be fingerprinted and undergo a criminal background investigation. That can take as long as three months, and that is where there is a problem.
Earlier this week, DiNapoli said the state Department of Motor Vehicles, which oversees bus drivers, should use scanning technology to verify fingerprints of school bus drivers more quickly. The DMV already does this for drivers who transport hazardous materials.

New York Legislature can help by passing legislation that mandates the waiting period be shortened and then helping to set up ways to accomplish this in an efficient manner. No school children should be inadvertently put in danger while a background investigation is completed.

Background investigations to be altered for slot machine owners

BY SHARON SMITH
Of The Patriot-News
Republican lawmakers plan to introduce legislation this month that would make the bureau charged with investigating applicants for slot-machine licenses more independent from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

The Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement conducts background investigations of slot-machine applicants and casino employees. It receives funding and oversight from the gaming board.

The bureau receives some assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police, but the bureau is considered the lead agency in investigating license applicants.

State Reps. Doug Reichley, R-Berks/Lehigh, and Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery, want to change that arrangement. They propose legislation that would give the state attorney general more control of the process and generally lessen the gaming board's role.

For example, the attorney general would supervise and jointly conduct background investigations with the bureau and state police. The bill also would have the attorney general determine the scope of the investigation, not the gaming board.

One reason for bringing in the attorney general's office would be to create a clear sense of independence and remove the legal turf battle between the state police and gaming board in sharing background information.

The issue of sharing information came to light in early August when the name of Louis DeNaples surfaced in connection with a grand jury investigation in Dauphin County.

DeNaples plans to open the state's first standalone casino in October in Monroe County. Former gaming board Chairman Tad Decker had said the grand jury investigation must be based on new information because the board's background investigation did not reveal anything that would prevent DeNaples from getting a slot-machine license.

Days before the board approved applicants for slots licenses, Col. Jeffrey B. Miller, head of the state police, sent Decker a letter dated Dec. 20, 2006, indicating that his agency had cooperated with the board and the board should be in position to properly determine an applicant's suitability for a gaming license.

However, Miller offered no assurances that new information about applicants wouldn't be developed.

"Obviously, we cannot speak for other law enforcement agencies, nor can we be expected to predict when and if they may develop further information," Miller wrote. "Certainly, we are not in a position to forecast if and when action may be taken by any such agency or to divine what effect it may have on the board's licensing decision."

That's the kind of confusion the legislators' bill hopes to eliminate.

Under the proposed legislation, both the state police and the Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement would forward information to the attorney general, who would be the point of contact for the gaming board, Reichley said.

"We're looking to sanitize this process," Reichley said. "We're looking to restore some credibility to and some independence to the Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement so people trust what's going on there."

Reichley and Vereb also want the attorney general to have a say in who runs the bureau. They propose that the attorney general and the gaming board jointly appoint a bureau director.

The lawmakers' proposal also calls for making the Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement budget independent.

"If we screen our applicants with an independent Bureau of Investigation, we are able to find out more about those applicants," Vereb said. "We want the budget controlled by the General Assembly and the governor just like it is in every other department."

The lawmakers' proposal does not appear to have much support in Gov. Ed Rendell's office.

"It's difficult to see what detaching the bureau from the Gaming Control Board would accomplish other than establish a new bureaucracy," said Chuck Ardo, spokesman for the governor's office.

Steve Miskin, spokesman for House Republicans, said measures in the bill would not create another layer of bureaucracy because the duties already exist.

Background Investigation fees anger brothel workers

In northern Nevada, prostitution has been legal in the Mound House area of Lyon County as well as parts of Storey County since 1972, providing the establishments are properly licensed.
In Lyon County all brothel workers are required to obtain a sheriff's card from the Lyon County Sheriff's Office to work or spend any time on a brothel premises.
On Sept. 6, the Lyon County Board of Commissioners is expected to discuss an ordinance proposed by the sheriff's office to double the card fees. The public is invited to speak about the ordinance during the meeting.
The proposal has some brothel workers crying foul.
Currently, work cards for all brothel staff cost $50 per year. There is one card for prostitutes and different card for all other workers.
When a worker is hired by a brothel, the employee must obtain a work card and surrender it to their brothel employer. At the end of the year the brother's management is expected to turn those cards back to the sheriff's office.
The ordinance, as amended by Commissioner Bob Milz, would increase the frequency of herpes testing and further prohibit the issuance of work cards to persons convicted of possession of drug paraphernalia (within last five years, adding paraphernalia to drug possession or use conviction). Another addition to the investigation by the sheriff was conviction of sex offenses as set forth in NRS 179D.
Sheriff Allen Veil recently credited the District Attorney's staff for doing the research for the draft ordinance. He also said the cost to send fingerprints to the FBI for background investigations has risen from $45 to $55 for the work cards.
Sheriff's office staff said to obtain a sheriff's card currently a potential brothel employee must fill out an application and provide a photo and finger prints.
The application is then submitted to the FBI for a background investigation to check for prior arrests and any outstanding wants or warrants for crimes that would prohibit the applicant from working at a brothel.
Dennis Hoff, owner of the Bunny Ranch and Bunny Ranch II in Mound House said many of the lower- and minimum-wage workers at his brothels are worried about the increase because if they work at both of his brothels, and many do, they would have to pay the doubled fee twice.
"How many minimum wage workers do you know who could afford $200 for a work card?" he asked.

NASA sued over use of background investigations

A group of California Institute of Technology scientists and engineers sued the U.S. government, saying new background investigation by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration violate their constitutional rights.

The scientists must submit to ``an open-ended background investigation'' and a determination of their suitability for their jobs based on ``wrong-headed and/or dangerously vague criteria such as sexual orientation,'' they said yesterday in a complaint in Los Angeles federal court.

The 28 scientists and engineers who sued work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, operated by Caltech for NASA. The laboratory runs missions such as the Mars Rover project. None of the scientists, some of whom have worked at JPL more than 20 years, have security clearances or work with classified material, they said in the complaint.

``NASA will be deprived of talented scientists and engineers who will be deterred from applying to work at JPL because of the newly required background investigation and waiver of privacy rights, both of which are antithetical to the type of autonomy and academic freedom needed to maintain JPL's status as the preeminent research institution for space exploration,'' the scientists said.

The requirements are part of a uniform identification system for federal employees in the executive branch, David Mould, a NASA spokesman in Washington, said. He declined to comment on the claims in the suit.

The case is Nelson v. NASA, 07-5669, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).

Parents wonder why background investigation didn't reveal pedophile school bus driver

More than 800 children attend classes in the Altar Valley School District of Tucson Arizona. With news that one of the district’s bus drivers is accused of child molestation, parents are now questioning how the district conducts background investigations.

“I’m shocked,” one parent admits.

Malissa, the grandparent of an Alter Valley student adds, “I know from the Internet, there are several people that are convicted sex offenders that live out here.” It has become an all too familiar and
common responses after receiving word that 63-year-old Altar Valley School bus driver Harry Edward Wroten is in jail for allegedly molesting a 9-year-old girl. He has spent the past year as a driver for the school district.

“If they knew he had this kind of history in his background investigation, he should not be permitted to be around children,” Malissa reveals.

Another parent of an Alter Valley student, Liz, admits, “I would believe that they would do better background investigations, being that this person deals with our kids on a daily basis.”
The district says Wroten drove about 100 students on his route on a daily basis, but Alter Valley District Superintendent Doug Roe says bus drivers do go through careful background investigations.

“Bus drivers receive even more scrutiny than even teachers as far as getting approved to become an employee of the district,” Superintendent Roe explains. “They go under a thorough background investigation by the department of public safety and the school district before they’re allowed to drive a bus.”

Roe says that a background investigation showed no prior history of sexual molestation, yet now Wroten sits behind bars after detectives say he had several sexual encounters with the 9-year-old girl. This situation leaves parents with an unsettling feeling about who they leave their kids with throughout the course of the school day.

“You’ve got to be careful with your children these days. You just don’t know,” Malissa admits.

Wroten is currently in the Pima County Adult Detention Center on a $50,000 bond.

.

Background Investigations underway at University of Colorado

The University of Colorado might be making sweeping reforms when it comes to background investigations and screening employees for criminal pasts.

"There's a lot for us to look at in the next week," CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said. "It's a big undertaking. We're examining the policy from top to bottom."

Top campus officials will be reviewing the school's criminal background investigation policies following Monday's stabbing, in which a former student-center employee is accused of slicing a student's throat with a knife.

The university did not run a background investigation on suspect Kenton Drew Astin, who was sent to the state mental hospital after he was accused of attempting to stab a 21-year-old Longmont man in 2001. Astin's six-month temporary employment in the food court at CU was arranged through a partnership between the university and a rehabilitation service for mentally ill adults. Hilliard said the incident prompted CU to conduct a comprehensive review of its relationship with referral companies.

The university also will be running criminal background investigations on all of its newly hired employees, and that could include professors and staff members brought on board within the past month, officials say.

CU will decide whether background checks will be done on the more than 7,000 existing employees. And officials still need to decide if it would be a random check, and whether all employees should be screened. University policy now requires background investigations for applicants who are seeking security-sensitive positions. Those include employees who provide patient or childcare, have access to controlled substances, have master keys to dorms or work with confidential data.

The campus also screens professors who are on track to earn tenure, higher education's job security, Hilliard said.

The screenings of applicants, up until last year, hadn't cost the university. CU police had been conducting 2,000 background investigations every year for the school, until the Colorado Bureau of Investigation notified the department that it's not allowed to use federal and state law-enforcement databases to perform the checks. CU has since been contracting with a private company to do the pre-employment checks

There's been a split in approaches at colleges across the country, and CU's process, if applied to all employees, could become among the most stringent.

Higher-education hiring became a hot-button topic about four years ago, when officials at Pennsylvania State University learned one of their faculty members had been convicted of murdering three people in the mid-1960s.

CU senior Amy Foster said she "definitely" endorses the university conducting background investigations on all employees.
"We're not children anymore, but we've just transitioned from being at home where our parents looked out for our safety," Foster said.

MLB wants background investigations on Umpires

Major Legue Baseball (MLB) wants background investigations conducted on all of its umpires. In a fitting case of "after the fact politics," MLB has realized that complete background investigations need to be done on its umpire ranks. The World Umpires Association (WUA) is adamant that background investigations be closely tied to an enhanced umpire situation for post season play. The WUA says it will not help commissioner Bud Selig's office conduct background investigations of its members, claiming the investigations are a "knee-jerk, misguided" response to the NBA referee betting scandal, in which official Tim Donaghy is under investigation for allegedly betting on games - including ones in which he officiated - and providing inside information to gamblers.

WUA spokesman Lamell McMorris said his union's members want to negotiate how background information will be gathered and used. He said he is concerned that confidential data might not remain so private.

"We understand the need for security and thorough background investigations," McMorris said. "But we are not going to give a green light to a knee-jerk, misguided witch hunt."

But Rob Manfred, MLB's executive vice president of labor relations, said the union is using the background checks as a bargaining chip to pressure baseball into adding a seventh official to postseason umpiring crews, which MLB says is unnecessary. Tyra Hearns of the background investigation firm Pebi Services ( wwww.Pebiservices.com ) says that the need for background investigations far exceeds the limits of the playing field. "Aside from the obvious, the umpires themselves are traveling from city to city representing the league. Without a complete background investigation how do you know that an umpire transitioning from one place to another has not been arrested or charged with a crime and then moved on to their home city without the league knowing it?"

During a meeting with WUA officials, Manfred told union leaders that MLB wanted to conduct background investigations on its umpires in response to the news that Donaghy, a 13-year NBA referee, is under investigation by the FBI. But Manfred said the union is trying to create an unnecessary job by holding the integrity of the game hostage.

Background Investigation never done on arrested 911 Operator

MOULTRIE — The recent arrest of an emergency 911 operator revealed that a background investigation was never completed prior to her employment. The sensitivity of her job description mandates that a pre employment background investigation be conducted prior to hiring. The agency may be in violation of federal laws if they knowingly omitted a background investigation of all their employees.Colquitt County E-911 Director Teresa Warburg described Amanda Nicole Brooks as an “excellent dispatcher,” one of her best, until about six months ago when she was thought to become involved with Jason Baird, a suspect in a recent burglary spree spanning four counties.

Brooks, 20, of 1522 Funston-Sale City Road, was charged in Colquitt County Saturday with the false report of a crime and filing a false police report. She also faces attempted burglary charges in Worth County after she admitted to being present at the burglary in which her silver Toyota Corolla was used, Colquitt County Sheriff Al Whittington said. Brooks’ live-in boyfriend Baird is on the run. He could be driving a stolen tan Chevrolet dually truck.
Baird and his brother, Stephen, allegedly led lawmen on a high-speed chase Friday through Mitchell and Dougherty counties, wrecked and fled on foot. Stephen Baird later was apprehended and jailed.

Brooks filed a report Saturday that her Corolla was stolen after she allegedly learned of the crash, Whittington said.
Warburg said she has learned that Brooks, now fired, was afraid of Baird and said that Brooks had showed up for work with some scratches, bruising and dark circles around her eyes. Brooks turned down help offered her and remained in a relationship with Baird, she said.

“She had talked with several here, and they tried to counsel her and to help her, but she didn’t heed any of their help,” she said.

Calls from her boyfriend allegedly came in to Brooks while she was on shift, Whittington and Warburg said. Baird allegedly asked her to return his call on another line within the building, an unrecorded line in a conference room, they said, and she did when she had the opportunity. It’s unclear at this point what was discussed, Whittington said.
That line has since been removed, Warburg said. Also, Warburg implemented a policy of no cell phones allowed in the secured dispatch room. Only authorized personnel are allowed access into the dispatch room.

Warburg implemented background checks on all new employees after she became director nearly two years ago. However, Brooks had already been employed as a dispatcher for a short time, so she did not have to undergo a background check.
Warburg said she wants more thorough investigation of would-be dispatchers, and the sheriff agrees.
“We need to beef up background checks. That’s what I asked Teresa and the commissioners. We’ve got to start looking more closely, because this is our lifeline, and I don’t want anybody to get hurt,” Whittington said.

“Things like this unfortunately happen from time to time,” the sheriff said. “Some of them will fall through the cracks. Regretfully, it does give the law enforcement community as a whole a black eye. What we need to do is be more careful on backgrounds as we possibly can, but when we have someone in a position such as this that violates the law, I think that certainly they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The E-911 department is under the control of the county administrator and the Board of Commissioners. Whittington serves on an advisory panel to E-911 made up of law enforcement agency and emergency services representatives.

Commissioner Billy Herndon is the only commissioner on the liaison committee to the E-911 department.
“If there’s nothing against her in the background, then what can you do?” Herndon said, noting that the county administrator is responsible for hiring and firing employees.

Background Investigation reveals sex offender

The Chatham County Sheriff's Department arrested John Kelly Lee Young, 39, on charges of violating sex offender registry laws in Georgia.
A background investigation conducted on a youth minister revealed the minister was a registered sex offender. The complete background check provided an NCIC alert which was quickly discovered in a background check.
Young moved here three years ago from Tennessee where he was a registered sex offender. He was working at St. Paul Academy for Boys and at Stout Chapel CME, where he served as a minister.

Young came to Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department headquarters to obtain a background check required by St. Paul. The background check reveled Young was a sex offender in Tennessee. Investigators with the sheriff's department's sex offender registry team found that Young had not notified Tennessee he left and had not registered in Georgia.

Young was arrested and gave permission for his home to be searched.

Tennessee is seeking warrants for Young's leaving the state without notification.

The investigation is ongoing.

Authorities say the arrest and investigation are a great example of interagency cooperation between the sheriff's department and Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department.

How monster.com was targeted

How monster.com was targeted by cyber crooks
• October. A program, called wnspoem, appears in hacker markets. It can sniff sensitive data from Windows internal memory.
• May. Wnspoem appears for sale in kits that inject the computer code via weaknesses in programs such as WinZip and QuickTime.
• June. Crooks begin sending out e-mails asking recipients to click on a Web link for services offered by Monster. They also post pop-up ads on Monster. Clicking on the link injects wnspoem.
• July. Crooks collect the username and password for a company recruiter who patronizes Monster, allowing them to download contact information for 1.3 million job candidates.
• August. The crooks send another round of e-mail scams to target job seekers for infection.
How to protect yourself: Keep security patches, anti-virus and firewall updated. Be suspicious of any e-mail or Web ad that asks you to click on Web link, no matter how convincing.

Cyberthieves stole 1.3 million names.

By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY
SEATTLE — Monster Worldwide (MNST) acknowledged Thursday that intruders swiped sensitive data for at least 1.3 million job seekers from its popular employment website.

The company issued a statement saying it shut down the "rogue server" where the stolen data was being stored and that only names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses were found. The company declined further comment, saying it is cooperating with law enforcement.

However, security experts say the rogue server was likely just one of dozens used to steal and store data from Monster in an elaborate theft campaign that has been ongoing since May.

There could be many more than 1.3 million Monster patrons whose data have been breached, and there is little stopping the crooks from continuing the attacks, says Robert Sandilands, chief researcher at security firm Authentium.

"It is a very good first step by Monster," Sandilands says. "There will have to be more changes to prevent this from happening again. This was a smaller part of a much bigger operation."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Monster | Don Jackson

In targeting Monster, intruders sent out e-mail come-ons and pop-up ads pitching job-finding services to get victims to click on a tainted Web link. Clicking on it results in an error message, and turns control of the PC over to the intruder, says Don Jackson, virus researcher at security firm SecureWorks.

Monster has posted detailed precautions at http://help.monster.com/besafe.

Infected PCs are being incorporated into "zombie" networks to spread e-mail spam, deliver more infections and collect and store stolen data. Meanwhile, all information typed by the user into the Web browser, including user names and passwords for online accounts, gets collected.

Jackson has tracked down several servers being used to store data collected over time from victims' browser activity, including Social Security numbers and other data. One such storage unit held rich data for 46,000 individuals, he says.

The crooks appear to have used such data to log into a job recruiter's Monster account and order contact information for 1.3 million job candidates. That data, in turn, was used to target known job seekers for e-mail scams touting Monster's services.

The Monster attack has been so successful that security experts expect it to be attempted at other employment websites. For that matter, all websites that collect user profiles, particularly social and business networking and media websites, are susceptible as targets, security experts say.

"The advice to just stay out of the dark corners of the Internet really doesn't hold water any more," says David Cole, director of Symantec Security Response team. "The bad guys are going to legitimate websites and attacking people."

Deputy in crash had bad driving record

UPI (Florida)
A Florida police deputy had a bad driving record prior to being hired by the Sheriff's office. The officer, a deputy with the Broward Sheriff's Office. Although the deputy's driving record was known via his background investigation, the Broward Sheriff's Office (BSO) still hired the deputy. The Broward Sheriff's Office deputy involved in a fatal traffic accident had his license suspended several times, according to his personnel file released Wednesday.

Deputy Paul Pletcher's driver's license was suspended three times from 1992 to 1998 because of speeding and underage drinking in Pennsylvania. The suspensions occurred before he became a BSO deputy in 2004.

In 1992, when he was a teenager, his license was suspended for 90 days following two speeding tickets and an underage drinking charge.

In 1995, his license was suspended again after he received a ticket for driving 105 mph in a 55 mph zone. In 1998, after several more speeding charges, his license was suspended for driving 77 mph in a 65 mph zone.

Pletcher, 33, first applied to BSO in 2002, but was told to reapply in one year because of his driving record, according to his file. He was hired two years later.

As a deputy, Pletcher has received letters of commendation and was named Employee of the Month for the Pompano Beach district in September 2005.

Eric Jonathan French, 26, was riding his motorbike north on 30th Avenue in Pompano Beach on Monday when he crashed into the side of Pletcher's patrol car.

Pletcher was heading east on Fourth Street around 6:45 p.m. when he pulled out from a stop sign at the intersection, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, which is investigating at BSO's request.

French did not have a stop sign on 30th Avenue.

The impact knocked French off the bike. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

''It's still under investigation,'' said FHP Sgt. Mark Wysocky. ``It will be awhile before we know who was at fault here.''

French, who was not wearing a helmet, had no registration, mirrors, lights or tags on the motorbike. His driver's license had been revoked, according to FHP.

Neither Pletcher nor his passenger, Deputy Jose Rosado, 36, required medical treatment, according to FHP.

Pletcher, originally from Lancaster, Pa., joined BSO in October 2004. He graduated from Pennsylvania Manor High School and went on to study business administration at Harrisburg Area Community College.

Before joining BSO, Pletcher was a supervisor at a gasoline station owned by his family, where he supervised the night-shift employees, helped with repairs and conducted the store's monthly inventory.

He had applied to several Pennsylvania police departments, including Manheim Township, York and Lancaster, before applying to BSO.

His records also show he admitted to using marijuana twice in 1992.

In March 2006, Pletcher's lieutenant praised Pletcher's ''excellent police work'' when he helped a detective solve a burglary and recovering two stolen guns.

The detective said Pletcher showed ``professionalism and dedication to service.''

Vermont leads the way in new identity measures

Vermont leads the way in new identity measures. The state of Vermont has taken a bold step in assisting background investigators with new enhanced driver's licenses. The new Vermont identification will not only be a boost to background investigations but will also be an enhanced security measure. the new licenses are being fazed in through the remainder of 2007. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security agreed to launch a project with the state of Vermont that will enrich the security of state driver's licenses and potentially serve as an acceptable alternative document for crossing the United States' land and sea borders.

The Vermont project, much like the agreement reached with Washington state earlier this year, is one possible compliance alternative to Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) requirements. As announced in June, on Jan. 31, 2008, U.S. and Canadian citizens will need to present either a WHTI-compliant document or a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license, plus proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate, for admissibility into the United States. DHS intends to end the routine practice of accepting oral declarations alone at land and sea ports of entry, and also proposes to begin alternative procedures for U.S. and Canadian children at that time.

The state of Vermont will develop an enhanced driver's license that will provide their residents, who voluntarily apply and qualify, with a document that is acceptable for use at U.S. land and sea ports. The enhanced driver's license will be slightly more expensive than a standard Vermont state driver's license and will require proof of citizenship, identity, and residence, as well as contain security features similar to a U.S. passport.

The 9/11 Commission endorsed secure documentation for determining admissibility into the country, and Congress mandated WHTI implementation in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. At present, U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel consider more than 8,000 distinct state issued birth certificates, driver's licenses or other forms of identification when making decisions on who and what to admit into the country.

At a date to be determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security in consultation with the Secretary of State, the departments will implement the full requirements of the land and sea phase of WHTI. DHS and DOS expect the date of full WHTI implementation to be in the summer of 2008. The precise implementation date will be formally announced with at least 60 days notice.

What's in a name?

Recently my company encountered a situation that although very benign needs to be mentioned. When an applicant submits his or her paperwork and work experience for a potential job opening the applicant needs to know a few things. What you were named at birth may be totally different than the name you choose to be known by today. One of my investigators was canvassing a local neighborhood doing what is known as a background neighborhood check. The background neighborhood check is when one of my investigators goes to your place of residence and interviews your neighbors to get a different perspective of what kind of a future employee you may be. By talking with those in your neighborhood a whole other dimension of who you as an applicant are can be discovered. If your parents gave you a first name you are not happy with it and you choose to be known by a middle or unrelated name, it is necessary for the background investigator to know this. My investigator kept speaking to the neighbors about an applicant calling him one name while the neighbors had no knowledge of the applicant due to the fact they all knew him as something else.

This can be a red flag for a background investigator.

Are there bad debts, or fraudulent drivers licenses in this secondary name? Does a complete and thorough background on both the birth name and the name the applicant "goes by" need to be done? Has the applicant applied for or received workman's compensation, social security benefits, or other items under the secondary name? Has he or she ever been arrested under the secondary name? The lesson to be learned is simple. If you are known by neighbors, former coworkers, or even the gang at the bowling league by a different name let the background investigator know so that they can rule it out, before it rules you out!

Tyra Hearns
President of Pebi Services Inc.
www.Pebiservices.com

Washington insiders aiding terrorists?

By Michael Cutler

There is an article appearing in the August 15 edition of the Washington Times that should alarm every citizen of the United States. According to Washington Times reporter, Sara Carter:

"A criminal investigations report says several U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees are accused of aiding Islamic extremists with identification fraud and of exploiting the visa system for personal gain. "The confidential 2006 USCIS report said that despite the severity of the potential security breaches, most are not investigated 'due to lack of resources' in the agency's internal affairs department.” Consider a statement made by the Director of USCIS, Emilio T. Gonzalez that appears in the Times article:

USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez in March told Congress that he could not establish how many terror suspects or persons of special interest have been granted immigration benefits.

"While USCIS has in place strong background check and adjudication suspension policies to avoid granting status to known terror risks, it is possible for USCIS to grant status to an individual before a risk is known, or when the security risk is not identified through standard background checks," said a statement provided to lawmakers. "USCIS is not in a position to quantify all cases in which this may have happened. Recognizing that there may be presently known terror risks in the ranks of those who have obtained status previously."

There is a world of difference between a background check and a background investigation.

The background check Mr. Gonzalez refers to would simply require that an applicant's name and fingerprints be run through computer databases to determine if the prints or the name relate to a known terrorist or criminal. Terrorists understand that in order to be effective they need to do everything in their power never to be fingerprinted in the United States before making any application for an immigration benefit. Then they provide a false name to immigration with clean fingerprints. Since the name and the fingerprints result in "No hit," that is to say no matches are found, the terrorist alien in question will receive an official identity document in the false name he (she) provided to USCIS.
Clearly Mr. Gonzalez has no idea as the scope and magnitude of the corruption and incompetence at an agency that hands out the "Keys to the Kingdom." The bottom line is, as the article noted, a terrorist needs to obtain official immigration status as a means of embedding himself in our country to be able to hide in plain sight.

Is there a gimmick to being hired?

Unfortunately there really is no gimmick to being hired other than making yourself a desirable applicant. Aside from your employment skills, one of the biggest determining factors on whether you get hired lies in the background check. A well trained background investigator will be able confirm or deny your approval for hiring based on the information he or she presents to your perspective employer. Applicants erroneously think that leaving a previous employer abruptly, attaining large commercial credit debt, and being arrested "a long time ago" will not haunt their employment chances. Nothing could be further from the truth. The best possible way for you to achieve the career of your dreams is to be upfront and forthright with any possible questionary actions, or activities. As a trained background investigator who owns my own firm ( www.pebiservices.com) it is better to hear it from you directly with an explainable reason to discover it later on.

Tyra Hearns
President of Pebi Services Inc.
www.Pebiservices.com

The oral interview is not the final say on whether you get hired

Many times applicants erroneously believe that the oral interview is the final phase of the hiring process. Contrary to popular belief the oral interview may just be the middle or early part of the hiring process. A complete and thorough background investigation will begin to emerge as the trained background investigator continues to accrue new and revealing facts about an applicant. Hand shakes in the boardroom do not necessarily mean you will be hired or retained. A comprehensive and complete background investigation will be conducted by myself and my talented staff at www.PebiServices.com

Tyra Hearns
President of Pebi Services Inc.
www.Pebiservices.com

FBI drug standard lowered for hiring

By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Aspiring FBI agents who once dabbled in marijuana use won't be barred from getting a job with the elite crime-fighting agency, which has loosened its drug policy amid a campaign to hire hundreds of agents.
The bureau's pot-smoking standard, in place for at least 13 years, was revised after internal debate about whether the policy was eliminating prospects because of drug experimentation, said Jeff Berkin, deputy director of the FBI's Security Division. The policy disqualified candidates if they had used marijuana more than 15 times.

There was no public announcement of the change. It took effect in January. The decision comes as the FBI continues its hiring campaign and as law enforcement agencies across the USA grapple with high rates of disqualification based in part on applicants' past drug use.

Berkin said the previous policy was based on a scoring system that had become "arbitrary." He also said it created problems for applicants who couldn't remember how many times they had smoked pot when asked in polygraph examinations.

"It encourages honesty and allows us to look at the whole person," Berkin said of the revised policy. He said it was too early to tell whether the new standard has encouraged an increasing number of applicants as the FBI attempts to hire 221 agents and 121 intelligence analysts.

"Increasingly, the goal for the screening of security clearance applicants is whether you are a current drug user, rather than whether you used in the past," said Tom Riley, a spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. "It's not whether you have smoked pot four times or 16 times 20 years ago. It's about whether you smoked last week and lied about it."

Elaine Deck, a senior program manager with the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said police departments report problems with an increasing number of applicants failing background investigations because of drug use and financial irregularities.

In Santa Fe, where recruiters are attempting to fill 15 vacancies this year, more than 60% of applicants are routinely found to be unfit after background investigations, Police Chief Eric Johnson said. Applicants are disqualified if they are found to have used drugs within the past three years, Johnson said, adding that the department does tolerate some past marijuana use.

In Las Vegas, where the department is attempting to hire 2,000 officers over the next five years, the background failure rate is about 70%. The department does not disclose details of its drug policy for applicants in part as a test of candidates' candor. Police Lt. Charles Hank said past marijuana use is not an automatic disqualifier.

Johnson said a smaller pool of prospects is one factor that contributes to the high disqualification rate. The prolonged Iraq war, he said, has snapped up thousands of candidates who might have been drawn to law enforcement.

Long Odds to Join Las Vegas Force

By Kevin Johnson USA Today

LAS VEGAS — Kayvan Kazemi spent the night before his police entrance exam studying the gambling tables.
The 24-year-old Long Island, N.Y., officer candidate lost about $400 in the casinos before calling it a night. But nothing he did violated the law or disqualified him for a spot in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department academy. It was just a typical night in Vegas, where Kazemi is still in the running for a job. And Lt. Charles Hank, the department's personnel chief, says there are worse examples of pre-test preparation.

Of the finalists for the 400 available jobs this year, a staggering 70% are expected to fail the required background and polygraph examinations for attempting to conceal a range of criminal activities, from prostitution to fraud and drug use.
If the recruiting effort were a one-year campaign, the washout rate might be a lesser concern. But Vegas plans to hire at least 400 officers every year for the next five years to keep pace with the region's explosive growth. And Vegas' experience is not unlike that of a number of departments nationwide.

War siphons pool of recruits

In Phoenix, where recruiters are in their own long-term hiring campaign, more than a third of the applicants are failing polygraph examinations. In Orlando, about half are not surviving critical pre-polygraph interviews.

One of the Orlando candidates flew in for an interview earlier this year and was dismissed after listing two fraudulent college degrees that the candidate had purchased online, said Sgt. Christine Gigicos, Orlando's recruiting unit director.

"As much as we tell 'em not to lie, they come in here and lie and they think we're not going to find out. Maybe they forget: We are the police," Vegas police Sgt. Dan Zehnder said.

The last time police officials were voicing such concern about the quality of recruits was seven years ago when the federal government began phasing out the landmark police hiring program aimed at adding 100,000 to the ranks across the country.

Now, a protracted war is siphoning away scores of traditional recruits, forcing departments to cast a wider net to fill thousands of jobs. Many of the jobs have been created in response to rapid community growth and the steady retirements of hundreds of baby-boomer officers.

But many are citing the war as having exacted a particularly heavy toll in the police ranks. Last year, an analysis of Justice Department data found that the deployment of thousands of local officers to Iraq and Afghanistan as military reservists was outstripping the pace of hires.

The analysis found that 11,380 officers were called for military Reserve service in 2003, compared with 2,600 new hires. Since that report was published, Justice statistician Matthew Hickman said anecdotal evidence suggests that departments are "having a lot of trouble" with both recruitment and retention.

Jeremy Wilson, associate director of the Rand Center on Quality Policing, says the national law enforcement hiring market is caught in its own "perfect storm" stoked by intense competition for a shrinking universe of applicants even as departments have relaunched aggressive recruiting campaigns.

A vice squad void of vices?

Vegas police recruiters were all smiles when a record 647 officer candidates streamed into a cavernous convention center July 10 to sit for the first in a day-long battery of entrance exams.

Nearly 150 applicants had come from as far as Vermont, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Iowa and Michigan to fill the hundreds of available slots.

Sgt. Zehnder, a department training instructor, offered a sobering dose of reality. For every 100 candidates, maybe 10 will eventually make it through the training academy and then to the street.

About 23% of candidates never get past a multiple-choice basic knowledge test. Forty percent fail the physical training workout — a mix of calisthenics, agility and running drills. But no other test comes close to producing the failure rate — seven in 10 — than the department's background check and polygraph exam.

"I can't tell you how many candidates I've lost," recruiter Luke Jancsek said of those caught lying. Many, he said, try to conceal the frequency of past drug use, some of which would not necessarily disqualify them. "I want to smack 'em in the head sometimes."

At an applicant reception on the night before the July 10 test day, recruiting officers urged a gathering of about 100 candidates to come forward if they thought past conduct might bar them from law enforcement. When the meeting was over, a handful of candidates grudgingly acknowledged a range of criminal activity in private meetings with recruiters.

Lt. Hank said one acknowledged paying for sex "just a few months ago" at a bachelor party. Another candidate from the East Coast, who had flown in at his own expense, also admitted to paying a prostitute. Both were encouraged to look elsewhere for work.

Most of the private meetings, however, involved questions about prior drug use.

If there was good news in the eleventh-hour confessions, it was that they came before the start of the lengthy and costly testing and training process. Candidates begin drawing a $47,777 annual salary while they are attending the 23-week academy.

Employing tourist-trap tactics

Given the high disqualification rate and the department's enormous expansion plans, Sgt. Eric Fricker said the department must maintain the current pace of attracting about 600 applicants a month.

To keep those numbers up, the department is using the same kinds of tactics the city has used to attract 40 million tourists and 50,000 new residents each year.

In the department's recruiting trips to the Midwest, the department emphasizes the warm, dry climate and surging economy.

A big part of the department's hiring campaign is being managed by the same marketing company that developed the city's signature motto: "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." Fricker is unapologetic about using the city's natural lures and vices to keep candidates coming. "It's Vegas," he said.