BACKGROUND CHECK AT STATE FAIR LANDS FUGITIVE BEHIND BARS

A fugitive is back behind bars after trying to get a job at the Alabama State Fair in Pelham Monday.
58-year-old Preston Goff is wanted for robbery in Flathead, Montana.
He applied for a job at the fair around noon Monday, and managers ran a background check. When Goff realized the situation, he ran and hid in nearby woods.
Alabama State Fair employees called police, who the launched a 4-hour search for Goff.
Two nearby schools were placed on lockdown.
Goff finally surrendered and is now in the Shelby County Jail, waiting to be extradited back to Montana.
Goff’s criminal record includes armed robbery assaulting a police officer, forgery and vehicle theft.
Alabama State Fair organizers say they always fully screen all applicants.
“We try to run a clean, safe fun fair. We want parents to feel secure about our employees because their picking children up, helping them on and off rides,” says David Renfro of Universal Fairs.
Pelham police, Hoover police, Alabama State Troopers and officers with the Alabama Prison System helped search for Goff.

Schools Fail to Check Record of Bus Drivers, Montee Says

School districts are not always meeting requirements for bus driver drug testing and criminal record checks.

And even if they did, state Auditor Susan Montee said it would not be enough to protect child passengers.

A state audit released yesterday finds that about 3 percent of bus drivers and aides never had a fingerprint criminal record check.

Foreign Care Workers Escape Background Check

Tens of thousands of immigrants are working with vulnerable elderly people and children without undergoing full criminal record checks, it has emerged.

Senior police officers have warned the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith of the scale of the problem in a report examining the affect on the UK of immigration from Eastern Europe.

It warns of the huge costs to police forces of having to carry out checks on behalf of a new watchdog to vet care workers, and says the authority will not redress the problem.

Many of Britain's care homes, which are currently home to 400,000 elderly people, rely on foreign staff because British workers are reluctant to take the jobs.

Big Ten Denies Football Games Were Fixed

The Yahoo! Sports story detailed Stephen Pamon's bankruptcy and criminal record while alleging that he is a problem casino gambler with a history of abusing women and children.

As for the far-reaching question of why the Big Ten would allow a man with such a seemingly checkered past to officiate football games, Delany said the Big Ten conducted background checks on all 300 of its football and basketball officials at the end of 2005.

The report on Pamon revealed two issues: He had been convicted of misdemeanor battery in 1997 and had filed for bankruptcy in 2002.

CU Revamps Hiring Policies

CU is taking another look at the criminal records of its employees following the recent stabbing of a student by a former UMC worker.

The university recently finished criminal background checks on five employees, who were referred to the university through the Chinook Clubhouse. The outcome, however, is unknown to the public.

"The results of these background checks are private, protected personnel information available only to an employee's supervisor," CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said.

Criminals in the Classroom

Investigation News - Criminals in the Classroom - PInow.com Investigator Directory: "Every year images of teachers are plastered all over televisions and news stands and it’s not because they are being given some prestigious award.

In fact, it’s just the opposite. They are being accused of what many consider the worst crime in this country: sexual assault against a child.

Pamela Rogers, an elementary school teacher was charged with having sex with one of her 13 year old students. She was sentenced to 9 months in jail but was released in six months due to good behavior. However, she got into trouble again for violating her probation when she used the internet to contact the 13 year old boy and his family. She also sent him a home video of herself doing a striptease. When Rogers appeared in court on July 14, 2006, she told the judge., “I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s clear I wasn’t thinking. I was blinded by emotions that I’m ashamed that I had.” The judge sentenced her to seven years in prison for probation violation."

What Exactly Are Criminal Records - And How Are They Used?

Investigation News - What Exactly Are Criminal Records - And How Are They Used? - PInow.com Investigator Directory: "A recent arrest in Colorado shows how fallible criminal records searches can be - and why hiring a professional investigator to run a criminal records search is the best option.

When running a criminal background check, if you are searching records only in your state, you may not be getting the whole story.

In July 2006, convicted sex offender Jermaine Vaden was arrested in Aurora, Colorado for assaulting a minor. Vaden was working as a city worker at the time of the incident and had a previous conviction for sex offenses against minors in Oklahoma. The state laws did not require a criminal check to be run on Vaden because his job did not put him into direct contact with money or children, but he met his victim while working for the city, prompting many to request changes in the way background checks are run.

Following Vaden’s arrest, tough new laws require all city workers in Aurora to undergo nationwide background checks. That’s because a routine background and criminal check then required of some potential city employees would not have revealed Vaden’s criminal background outside of Colorado."