If you’re like me you like a good spy thriller, doesn’t matter if it’s a book, a movie, or even a TV show.  One of the more entertaining ways to unwind after a long day is to watch the good guys chase the bad ones and hopefully a happy ending.

One of the constants in these types of stories is what I always call the command center.  It’s typically a room filled with computers, phones, and wall mounted flat screens where some shadowy government agency is tracking the moves of the hero, the villain, and everyone else in between.  Invariably there will come a moment in the story where the leader of this group needs information on someone, anyone.  They shout out a name and suddenly there they are on the big screen, their name, DOB, SSN, every known alias, their rap sheet, the name of their second grade teacher, it’s all there!  Sadly for us, this might be the least believable part of the entire plot.

The reality is that there is simply no one database that stores all of this information.  In fact there isn’t even a single database just to store criminal information.  No, the idea of a National Criminal Search is at worst a myth and at best a misnomer.

In order to have a true national criminal search every county in the United States, all three thousand plus would have to either connect to a single networked system or report every record that passes through their court to a centralized location.  Sadly most courts can’t even get the information to their own state repository with the level of accuracy or frequency required for a through search.  Unfortunately the level of technology used in the majority of our courts is often fifteen to twenty years behind the average American business and even if it were more up to date the fact remains that each state and sometimes even indidual counties use entirely different systems than their peers.

So what is that National Criminal you’ve been ordering and what does it do?  National Criminal searches, sometimes referred to as Multi-State or Multi-Jurisdictional searches, run your applicant’s name through a 3^rd party database that collects criminal case information from a variety of sources.  These may include online criminal records, department of corrections records, administrative court offices, departments of public safety, and many more.  However, the records in some areas of the country are much better than others and there are areas with no coverage at all.

While these searches can be very useful they also require great diligence on the part of our records specialists to ensure any results returned truly belong to your applicant.  Any potential results are screened and strict reporting criteria is applied before additional steps are taken to verify the records.

The “National Criminal” might be a myth but the search is still a very valuable tool.  However, just like a hammer, it shouldn’t be the only tool in your box.  Contact us today to learn how this search can benefit you and how our team handles the information to be sure you are receiving an accurate, compliant report.