Friday, March 14, 2008

Free Public Police Records

Free Public Police Records?

By Ben Jen

It is official now. The US has the highest per capita incarceration rate in the world according to a very recent report from the Department of Justice. More than 2 million people were in jail at year-end 2006, an all-time high, not including those who are on probation, parole, rehabilitation or have already served out their sentence. And that's looking at hard crimes alone. What about other run-ins with the law where offenders are not put behind bars?

When it comes to completeness in checking violation of law or regulation, an excellent resource is found in Public Police Records. It is different from Criminal Records in that it is not just about crime and conviction. Anytime you have any interaction or engagement with the police, it will likely go into your police records. Although public police records are tasked differently from state to state, it generally means all reports recorded by police, including complaints and requests submitted by the public. This inherently implies that anything that is not in norm or order is deemed to be under police charter. Some prominent enforcement-related features in police records are arrest, driving violations, violence, sex offenses, gangs, drugs fraud and public disturbance. Other informative type data are also listed for example firearms permit, traffic accidents, address history, family members, lost and found, missing person, property and so forth.

Police record checks are conducted chiefly in employment screening and volunteering assessment. However, the laws governing the use of the information derived from such checks are strict and serious. Lawyers and experts are often required to determine the permissible and proper application of the police record search results in such contexts. For one thing, consent from the subject must be secured in order to initiate a search. While there is Freedom to Information Act, there are also privacy rights and discrimination protection provisions.

A police record report can also be used as a 'good conduct' or 'no criminal record' certification. Such a clearance document may be required abroad for further studies, child adoption, employment, residency or even sports and arts events. Local police departments are tasked with the procedure of running a crime record background check and issue the report in accordance with it. They have authority and liberty to construct the document to reflect the subject in a manner they deem fit and appropriate. After all, a favorable police record report is not worth the paper it's printed on without its official authentication.

Police records are available free of charge but they are generally scattered all over different states, if not counties. It can be quite onerous and time-consuming to assemble the findings too. That perhaps is why paid service for this purpose is generally opted. Charges are typically nominal and great value can be found if you know where to look.

Now that you know the benefits of Public Police Records, find the resources at http://gov-record.org/police-records/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ben_Jen

http://EzineArticles.com/?Free-Public-Police-Records?&id=878337

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Free Police Records

By Ben Jen

Yahoo News (AFP, 29th February 2008) just reported the gravest incarceration numbers ever in the US. More than one in 100 US adults are behind bars, 2.3 million in absolute count, outnumbering even China which has a far larger population. In certain statistical sections, it's even worse. For example, one in nine African American men aged between 20 and 34 are held in cells. What's worse is that studies have shown that a high percentage of those behind bars are prone to return to crimes upon their release. We simply cannot be over-careful with people these days.

Of course, public measures are in place to tackle the problem of crimes but ultimately, the onus is still back on us to safeguard our own interests and loved ones. Different people deal with it differently. Some are even indifferent to it till too late. For those who are aware of how bad the rot is, there is fortunately a very practical and handy precautionary measure available to at least mitigate the threat, and it can even be done free of charge. Yes, check the police records every time we are unsure about anyone for free.

Public police records keep tabs of all police activities good, bad and ugly, not least in regard to those who end up in enforced custody. They can give a pretty good idea about anyone especially if the search on the individual finds existence of records. By conducting a police record search on someone, we can obtain more than just criminal information pertaining to the subject. Traffic violations, accidents, permits, emergencies, other incidents and so forth would all be unveiled.

Police records are basically free public records. However, there are variations in their treatment among the different state and county jurisdictions. Some are easy-going with them and some are tight although they are all technically public, with some requiring certain forms of consent, signatures or even fingerprints for release of information. That said, it must be noted that the use of free police record information is restrictive by law and can result in police action in itself if flouted.

Nowadays, it is quite convenient to retrieve public police records online. Many police departments run their own independent websites which are open to public use. However, it can be a bit of a challenge to assemble something from the records and reports of various different police departments. They are generally not standardized and some are even disparate in format and content. That's why paid version of online police records is also becoming popular with people going for no-fuss and ready-made answers. Many good record providers can be found on the web, it's easier to find one to do the work for us than to find all the records our self.

Now that you know the benefits of Free Police Records, find the resources at http://gov-record.org/police-records/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ben_Jen

http://EzineArticles.com/?Free-Police-Records&id=1020633