Texas DPS' criminal databases missing thousands of records

More than a third of criminal records are missing from the online Department of Public Safety database available to the public, a Fort Worth company found in a study.

Even government agencies, which have access to more detailed criminal records to screen teachers, doctors, volunteers and tradespeople, use a DPS system fraught with gaps, officials and experts said.

Man Brings Cocaine to Police Station While Getting a Background Check

A man accused of bringing cocaine into the Jackson police station has been formally charged.

Lawrence Hayes, 29, of Jackson was arraigned Thursday on charges of domestic violence and possession with intent to deliver cocaine.

DCF Admits Mistake in Child's Death

Ashley and Tammi Baker were the care takers of five month old Gabriel Golden when he died earlier this month. They found him unresponsive inside their home, and he later died.

Top managers with DCF are admitting the agency made mistakes. William DAiuto is the top administrator for the Lake County area. He said that clearly the agency could have done more.

DCF first got involved when someone complained about Gabriel's biological parents. The Goldens left Gabriel with the Bakers to be his care takers. DCF now says they focused too much attention on the Goldens and not enough on the Bakers.

A new DCF report concludes the investigator was supposed to do a background check on the Bakers within 72 hours, but he waited almost thirty days to do the check.

State Passes Background Check

Do you know if your repairman has a criminal record? For the first time the state is requiring background checks for folks who come into your home to fix things. So when you turn on the heater this weekend - the state says you may want to worry about more than the safety of your home.

The capital city is bracing for a Canadian cold front. James Poole works for Austin's Strand Brothers, and knows a lot of folks are getting ready to switch on the heater. "It's the beginning of our season, as soon as the cold snap comes in that's when everything starts."

So besides checking your furnace and filter, the state says you many want to check the repairman's record.

Student Teachers' Backgrounds Often Go Unchecked

Background checks that are standard for Kansas teachers don't extend to teachers in training.

While some school districts are vigilant about checking the backgrounds of volunteers, no scrutiny is required of student teachers. Schools in Kansas often don't check their backgrounds, sometimes expecting that colleges and universities do that work. In reality, colleges and universities may do little checking before passing student teachers along to work in schools.

 

"I think we expected the institution had already done it for them to get their certificate," said Mike Mathes, Seaman Unified School District 345 superintendent.

Auburn-Washburn USD 437 has had such concerns that it will begin conducting checks on potential student teachers in January. None of the other Shawnee County school districts conduct criminal background checks on incoming student teachers.

92 Guards Hired Without Background Checks

A privately run immigration lockup in Tacoma hired nearly 100 security guards without background checks, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn't catch the practice for two years, court documents show.

Sylvia Wong, an administrator in charge of hiring at the Northwest Detention Center, pleaded guilty this week in federal court in Tacoma to one count of making a false statement, for lying to investigators. In her plea agreement, she admitted that soon after starting work in November 2005, she began hiring guards without background checks "because of the pressure she felt to get security personnel hired at the NWDC as quickly as possible."

ICE auditors discovered early this year that 92 guards had been hired without the checks. The agency acknowledges that some of the guards have been fired following subsequent background checks, but won't say how many.

"In response to this investigation we have implemented a multi-tiered vetting process ... so that no contractor or federal employee has sole responsibility to process and approve employment documents," ICE spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said Thursday. "We have taken proactive steps to prevent this from happening again."

New Jersey Senate Passes Background Check Bill

The New Jersey Senate unanimously passed a bill last week that will revise the current background check requirements for all school employees who come in contact with students.

Sponsored by Sens. Loretta Weinberg, Barbara Buono and Shirley K. Turner, bill S-110 will revise the current criminal background check requirements for employees by requesting that all teachers and school district employees undergo a criminal background check. Besides the faculty and administration, people who are considered school employees also include bus drivers, cafeteria workers and janitorial staff.

The bill revises criminal history record checks for public and nonpublic school employees and bus drivers, and expands the list of offenses that would disqualify an employee from working at a school.

Buono said revisions to background check procedures are something she had been thinking about for a while.

"There were loopholes that needed to be closed," she said.

Library Volunteers Not Happy with Background Checks

Volunteers at Albuquerque libraries are upset about having to undergo criminal background checks mandated by the city for all volunteers.

The Friends of the Library volunteer group says their members don't have any contact with children-they only help with the books.

Volunteers say they were shocked when they were forced to submit to a background check.

"I was quite annoyed that I would have to be going through something like that at the library because I'm assuming that the reason for all that is due to contact with children," a volunteer named John said. "We as volunteers there have absolutely no contact with children."

John said he and other volunteers consider background check a slap in the face and say they are worried their personal information could wind up in the wrong hands.

"Who is really going to be retaining that data? How secure is it, and why does it have to be retained," asked John.