It seems as though there are alot of relatives in the Newark Police Department, Essex county prosecutors are looking into matters where police academy graduates who failed background checks were allowed to join the police force anyway. A unit who conducts the background checks recommended not hiring applicants with criminal histories some with felony convictions, although these individuals were still hired probably because of their relation to some of the higher authority officers.

But we’re not done, follow me along on this one so Newark west ward councilman Ronald Rice Jr heads a committee that tackles various police matters held a closed door session where he spoke with people that are familiar with the police graduates and their criminal records. Why closed door ? the witnesses in question were fearful of retaliation.

I encourage everyone to read the entire blog post as I only touched on some of it, and share it with a friend so we can all be a little more aware of who we put our trust in.

Many college institutions ask prospective college students if they have ever been convicted of a serious crime, well experts are weighing the facts if background checks are required for students entering into college. Well come to find out more than 60% of colleges who participated in a survey used criminal background checks to determine whether a student with a criminal record should be admitted. Of those 60% only half had offical policies in order to do so. Here’s the original story.

Come to find out Georgia conducts the least amount of criminal background checks in the southeast when it comes to day care teachers and day care owners, the only exception being North Carolina in certain cases.

Most parents think that day care regulation is stricter than it actually is. In 2008 a day care owner who was not to have any contact with kids was caught caring from them.

Military run day care staff must wear different colored smocks, until their background check clearance comes back. Among the most responsible states South Carolina, and Mississippi require full state and federal background checks, sex offender and child abuse records, as well as fingerprints. Tennesee does annual physical and mental evaulations to check ability to care for children.

Found it here

So what would you say if you found out the person who you were chatting with on Match.com was in fact a convicted murderer? Well that’s exactly what a San Francisco news site found out. Many dating sites do not conduct criminal background checks and are not required by law to do so. The person in question was convicted of killing 2 people in 1970 and served less than 11 years in jail. What do you think should a convicted killer be able to peruse dating sites or should dating sites be more proactive in protecting their users? Let me know in the comments.

Napa county officials just passed a ordinance that would require all private caregivers to submit to a criminal background check after 3 years of lobbying for elderly people who have outside workers in their homes. Full story

So as much as I don’t like reading or hearing about kids being abused by adults this is one situation that should be handled accordingly by the police.
And your probably wondering what this has to do with background checks right? The thing is that she didn’t need to be certified or screened for a background check to teach in a Texas charter school. And to top it all off she was wanted on a criminal mischief charge, for slashing a woman’s tires last year.

Found the original story here, and another here

What are your thoughts on the matter should she be criminally prosecuted?