The FBI database isn’t what it’s cracked up to be
The Federal Bureau of Investigation keeps a listing of identifying information taken from fingerprints submitted voluntarily by various criminal justice agencies in connection with arrests, or relating to naturalization or military service. Many employers are under the impression that this FBI identification database is the “gold standard” in background screening. In reality, the background screening community considers the FBI’s database as a tool to be used but not reliable enough as a single source for a background check. This is because the FBI database is simply not a thorough-enough resource for background screening. Having been arrested and fingerprinted may not help your job candidate land a job, but if such experiences did not result in a criminal conviction, such critical disposition information is likely to be missing from a person’s “rap sheet.” Thus, relying on the FBI database alone doesn’t paint the whole picture. According to a 2006 Department of Justice (DOJ...