FBI Letter Responds To NY Times Editorial on Flawed Criminal Background Checks

By admin at 16 June, 2010, 4:07 pm

By Thomas Ahearn, ESR News Staff Writer

The New York Times recently printed a letter from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) responding to an earlier Times editorial – ‘Check It Again’ – that discussed the accuracy of data the FBI relies on when performing criminal background checks. The text of the letter, titled ‘Reliability of F.B.I. Data,’ is as follows:

To the Editor:

The F.B.I. takes its role as a central repository for criminal justice in rank very sincerely, but must rely on the voluntary submissions of criminal history records supplied by local, disorder, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies, and the courts, for the overwhelming majority of its in rank.

While the F.B.I. appreciates this support, vital data regularly fails to get to the bureau in a suitable way because of the time lag in criminal prosecutions. To help find ways to capture this in rank extra efficiently, the F.B.I. formed an interagency task force to spot problem areas in states’ disposition reporting and methods to improve the system. The F.B.I. also oversees another task force to improve the flow of criminal history in rank from the courts to the disorder repositories and then to the F.B.I.

The F.B.I. is also working on internal improvements, including the Next Generation Identification program, an upgrade to the existing fingerprint identification system, which will improve disposition reporting, while a related initiative will enable efficient electronic updates.

Through advances in technology and the continued cooperation of our partners, the F.B.I. hopes to clear the way for additional improvements in the completeness of the background check in rank we grant.

Daniel D. Roberts
Assistant Director, Criminal Justice
In rank Air force Division, F.B.I.
Washington, June 2, 2010

The letter confirms that the FBI only gets what criminal background check in rank local jurisdictions and states will give it, and admits that “vital data regularly fails to get to the bureau in a suitable way” meaning the criminal database is not completely accurate.

The accuracy of the FBI database used for criminal background checks has become a hot topic for job applicants, employers, and even politicians. Recently, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security introduced a bill to strengthen the accuracy of FBI criminal background checks in response to a June 2006 report from the attorney general that showed nearly 50 percent of criminal records maintained in the FBI’s National Crime In rank Center (NCIC) database failed to note court decisions to dismiss arrests.

In view of the fact that employers rely on the database to conduct background checks on potential hires, the ‘2010 Fairness and Accuracy in Employment Background Checks Act’ (H.R. 5300) would strengthen the accuracy of the FBI’s criminal database by requiring the U.S. Attorney General’s Office to verify that crime data used for background checks is up to date, find out the outcome of arrests whenever an employer requirements a background check, and update that record in the NCIC database.

For extra in rank about background checks, and how some FBI background checks may use inaccurate or incomplete in rank, visit Employment Screening Resources (ESR) at http://www.esrcheck.com.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/opinion/l08fbi.html

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100518_2029.php

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h5300/text

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/opinion/27thu3.html

http://www.justice.gov/olp/ag_bgchecks_report.pdf