You may think you have the perfect candidate to fill your job posting, but criminal background checks can reveal some surprising and frightening convictions and pending charges. While your candidate may appear perfect on paper, what isn’t on the resume may actually be the most important information about the person.
When deciding who you will bring on to your team, you need to know the full scope of the candidate and not just the select information they choose to share with you. The team at Cutting Edge Background Investigations has the tools in place and the expertise on how to get the relevant information that you need.
The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.
OSHA’s definition of workplace violence is “any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation or other threatening and disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site.” Workplace violence can range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and homicide. Nearly 2 million American workers report being victims of workplace violence each year. And, of course, homicide is the third leading cause of death on the job.
Types of Criminal Background Checks
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Statewide Criminal Reports
Provide information concerning felony and misdemeanor convictions and pending cases that are originated at the county level which are reported into a state repository. These criminal reports can help protect an employer from negligent hiring and help reduce the threat of workplace violence, theft, disruption and other problems. Reported information usually includes offense date, nature of offense, sentencing date, disposition and current status. Cutting Edge Background Investigations maintains strict guidelines concerning accuracy, timeliness and thoroughness of the statewide repositories. Due to these standards, not every state will be offered to ensure the highest level of provided information.
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County Criminal Background Checks
This search consists of a search of the district and circuit court records in any county in the United States. In addition, Cutting Edge Background Investigations maintains a network of court researchers with access to over 3500 county court houses. These criminal reports can help protect an employer from negligent hiring and help reduce the threat of workplace violence, theft, disruption and other problems. Reported information usually includes offense date, nature of offense, sentencing date, disposition and current status.
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Federal Criminal Background Checks
These reports reveal criminal complaints brought by the US government against defendants for violation of federal criminal law. Federal crimes will not appear in a state or county criminal report. These crimes may include: tax evasion, embezzlement, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, bank robbery and many other “white collar” crimes. A person can also be tried in federal court if they cross state lines during the commission of a crime. These criminal reports can help protect an employer from negligent hiring and help reduced the threat of workplace violence, theft, disruption and other problems. This search lists criminal filings in any of the nation’s federal district courts and includes offense date, nature of offense, sentencing date, disposition and current status. Federal criminal background checks are an additional search that should not be discounted.
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InstaCriminal™
Cutting Edge Background Investigations employs this powerful, virtually instant criminal background check database tool. A multi-jurisdictional search of hundreds of millions state and county criminal records. This database is compiled from county courthouses, Department of Corrections (DOC), and Administration of the Court (AOC), and is bundled with our Global Security Watch List and Sex Offender Records database sources. This search is an effective tool for discovering additional jurisdictions where criminal offenses may have occurred outside of an applicant indicated residential and employment address history.
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Civil Court Records
Civil court reports provide information from the county and federal level that are typically not reported in a state, county or federal criminal report. Types of cases are major civil lawsuits, bankruptcies, disputes and suits involving constitutional rights. Reported information will include filing date, case type, plaintiff/defendant information when available, and the court findings.
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Sex Offender Registry
They establish a necessary trust, especially to organizations that serve vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly and those being treated in healthcare settings. This search helps determine if an individual is a registered sex offender.
Cutting Edge Background Investigations performs real-time sex offender searches through the U.S. Department of Justice as a cooperative effort between the federal government and all 50 state jurisdictions that host sex offender registries. We also have the ability to search individual states’ registries. We verify all potential matches at the state level for relatedness, accuracy and completeness before being included in a report. Some states restrict the use of sex offender information in employment decisions and Cutting Edge Background Investigations makes our clients aware of those states having restrictions on the use of sex offender information for employment purposes when it affects their screening program.
Criminal background checks are a powerful tool that Cutting Edge Background Investigations uses to aid our clients in gathering the best possible information to make the best hiring decisions. Having this type of information before you hire a candidate can help you make an educated decision on how to proceed to best protect yourself, your employees and your company. Our team can provide you with fast and accurate information to help you act quickly and keep your operations running smoothly.
