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Free criminal records search online – but is it accurate?

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Almost two weeks ago a new service called Criminal Searches was brought to my attention. The site, talked about at WisBlawg, AbsTracked, Legal Dockets Online, and even the New York Times, offers free criminal searches throughout the US. Users don’t even have to register or login.

While others seem to find the information accurate, I have found the opposite to be true. Some records which I know exist have not been found. Then there’s this post from the Oregon Legal Research Blog, pointing to an Oregon Department of Justice notice, pointing to possible inaccuracies in the site.

I will relay to you what an investigator colleague shared with me when we discussed this site. He said that the only safe record in criminal background searching is the court document. Too true. And as I often have to do background searches I will say that I would not rely on this site, exclusively to conduct a criminal background search. The disclaimer at the bottom of the website of course reminds you of possible inaccuracies.

As I’m not an attorney I can’t comment on legal implications of a site like this. Although I can imagine that there might be problems if people are improperly denied jobs, loans, or punished in some other way because of inaccurate records, or (more likely) records read inaccurately.

This is just a reminder that some sources need to be approached with much caution.

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4 Comments

  1. Kerry Prindiville — September 5, 2008 #

    Wow! Thanks for sharing. This is interesting, but scary too. My sister-in-law is struggling with drug addiction and has thus been incarcerated numerous times. She popped when I searched using her name. She is trying to get better, but this has the potential to really hurt her when and if she can find a job that doesn’t automatically do criminal background checks.

  2. Dr. Mohamed Taherr — September 8, 2008 #

    Hello: I updated my blog template, and added an RSS feeder to view your blog updates (librarians have traditionally named it: current awareness).

    Happy blogging.
    Stay connected. MT

  3. Danzo — September 28, 2008 #

    I looked up a name I knew who is not incarcerated with 2 counts of criminal sexual conduct. I figured it would be an easy hit… no such luck. A few others I searched also came up with zero results. criminalsearches.com is a joke!

  4. Danzo — September 28, 2008 #

    I meant to say “I looked up a name I knew who IS incarcerated…”

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