A client called today asking for assistance with a criminal background search that had been conducted on one of their applicants. This client has Barada handle most of their background screening; but, because of the industry they are in, it makes more sense for them to do some of the searches themselves.
This was a situation where Barada had conducted the Criminal County Court search and the client performed the Indiana State Police search in-house. The question she posed was, “Why did the State Police search return a crime and nothing came back on the County Court search?”
I am so glad the question was asked. Not only did the client give Barada Associates an opportunity to find out why information was not returned, but she allowed me to help her better understand the way criminal records are stored and reported.
The Indiana State Police search had returned a case from a county that had not been searched by Barada Associates. It was a case involving check deception. Had the client asked Barada to search the county reporting the charge, we would not have returned any information because the case had been dismissed after the offender paid the fees and remained violation-free for one year. Unless specifically requested by the client, Barada Associates does not return dismissed cases because, when making a hiring decision, only convictions can be taken into consideration.
This one question gave me the opportunity to provide further assistance to the client and, therefore, provide them with additional information regarding the case in question. Even though Barada did not perform the Indiana State Police search, we knew who to call for the answers the client needed, and we were able to obtain the information in a matter of minutes.