[TheForge] *****SPAM***** Re: Criminal Background Check

[Bruce Freeman]

I just tried volunteering for the Red Cross and ran into the criminal
background check thing.

Now, I have no problem with someone checking up on me IF that's all
that comes of it.  But years ago I tried volunteering for Big Brothers
and they immediately wanted me to go to their local police for
fingerprints and a criminal background check.  When all was said and
done, nobody could tell me anything about the possible ramifications
of undergoing such a check.

Take a worst-case scenario:  Police take my fingerprints and run it
through the system.  I am reasonably confident that my ten
fingerprints would not match those of any criminal.  However, suppose
some gung-ho cop went further and discovered that ONE of my
fingerprints matched that from an unsolved crime.  NOW we're talking
about some criminal's right index finger matching my left ring finger,
for examples.  Possible permutations significantly increases the
possibility of such a mis-match.  Remember, the check is only 14
points on each fingerprint, NOT a photographic overlay of one print on
another.  Farfetched?  Maybe.  But what are my rights?  Will the
police just show up at my door,  haul me away and throw away the key
-- until I pay lots of money to a sharp lawyer to get me out of the
mess?

Paranoid?  Maybe.  But I distinctly recall a case of a motorist with a
rather unusual surname who was stopped by a cop and then arrested
because his surname matched that of a wanted criminal.  His first name
didn't match.  His description didn't match.  But he was arrested and
spent 2-3 days in jail because of a match in his last name!  So, who's
paranoid?

If anyone has any real info on what my rights would be regarding a
criminal background check, or where I could find the info., I'd really
like to know.

On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 3:48 PM, Andrew Vida <osan at netlabs.net> wrote:
>
>
> Bob Willman wrote:
>>       As amateur radio operators we can be called upon to volunteer with
>> disasters of one sort or another. One of the professional organizations we
>> work with is the Red Cross. They required a background check for all
>> volunteers. Their regular consent form also allowed them to do a financial
>> means check. They could not give a good reason for the financial check
>> except that it was standard policy and everybody did it. Most all amateurs
>> nationwide declined to sign the form and they eventually removed that
>> requirement. It took intervention on a national level from ARRL to get them
>> to see the light.
>>       Be careful and read before you sign.
>
>        Sage words, and an excellent example of how these yahoos can be
> resisted.  As I said, if enough refuse to be mastered, they are forced
> to make a choice - abandon the attempt or ratchet up the heat.  Either
> way, we win.
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-- 
Bruce
NJ

The total lack of evidence is the surest sign that the conspiracy is working.