A question I am often asked by prospective clients is, “So what best practices do you employ?” Well that’s a pretty easy answer if you have any experience in the employment screening industry. The industry politically correct answer is, “Oh well we employ standards as recognized by NAPBS (National Association of Professional Background Screeners) and ASIS International. While this is true and an acceptable answer, a better question might be, “What are your better practices?” By this I mean ask the obvious question, what makes you better?

Compliance with Best Practices in any industry simply demonstrates competence in your field, not Outstanding Performance. For instance one commonly recognized best practice is to check for criminal conviction records at the county court where an applicant has resided for an average period of seven years. This information should be retrieved ,whenever practical, directly from the county clerk of court by an on-site review of the court docket. This check will reveal all Felony cases and Felony reductions to Misdemeanors, if any, regarding your applicant. The best Practice here is to check directly with the court and not from a database. The background screening agency should check multiple counties based on the applicants residential history. Lastly a proper check should include Felony and Misdemeanor convictions. This part however isn’t so easy to understand!

Simply put the best practice when it comes to a Felony and Misdemeanor check is to report any occurrences of such found in the county clerks records! The sleight of hand, here is that while it is true that County records will contain both Felony and Misdemeanors, the Misdemeanors are most often reduced Felonies. What that means is that any Cities, Townships, Villages and so on who have their own courts within that County will not be included in your search! That’s right all those misdemeanors, and the majority of criminal convictions are lower court misdemeanors, might not be in the so called Felony and Misdemeanor check you paid for! Some providers do check local courts as well and this is a recognized Best Practice. However, they may only include a few courts and charge for extras. Just as multiple Counties should be checked for Felonies and reduced Misdemeanors, so should the local courts for Misdemeanors.

A common misconception is that a Felony check is, “Good Enough” but it’s really not. Lower court misdemeanors include drug, theft and domestic violence charges to name a few. It isn’t easy to understand all this. After all there are about 3,500 Counties and about 10,000 Local Courts and those records are not linked in any sort of comprehensive data or retrieval source. Using a qualified background screening firm is critical to getting the most information you can quickly, efficiently and in a cost effective manner.

This brings me back to my main point. Best Practice or Better Practice, which one does your provider follow? As a Certified Protection Professional with over 30 years experience in the field of law enforcement, investigations and commercial security I have developed some highly effective strategies for going beyond the commonly recognized Best Practice to provide Outstanding Results for our clients. The Better practice in my opinion is to check every single county court and every misdemeanor court where an applicant has lived. This may seem academic but the truth is most providers limit the number of courts they check. I don’t believe that’s fair or effective. Contrary to popular opinion this practice can be employed quickly and cost effectively. It is not uncommon for providers to claim they do a nationwide database check or that they check for all Felonies and Misdemeanors within the County. If you drill down a bit however you might find that is a bit of smoke and mirrors. So remember ask the question, “why are you better” and “How many Misdemeanor courts do you check?” If the answer isn’t clear, then maybe a little more research on your part is needed.