Was driving home today, when I saw a guy pulled over by the cops. I have no outstanding warrants, no tickets, not even so much as a jaywalking conviction . . . [sub]in this country. The whole thing in Nicaragua was just a ‘political misunderstanding’[/sub]
Anyway, I thought that if I can contact the “big three” (Equifax, TRW, and . . . one more) for my credit reports, aside from knocking on a parked patrol car and asking for a readout, is there a way I can find out what information the police have or can pull up on me?
Reason I ask: Hell, why not! I can file a FOIA request with some agencies of the Federal government and find out information. Why can’t I know the same information the police would pull up on me. Granted, I should know it already, but what if there’s an error I don’t know about?
Tripler
“Really officer, I’m not that Tripler. That other guy robbed that bank!”
What happens if you ask someone to run this check, and then it turns out that they DO have dirt on you? Won’t that result in them arresting you?
As far as I know, I have no criminal record (there was an incident back when I was 9 involving illegal weapons in my possession, but since I was never charged, I doubt it’s still on my record), but if I wanted to find out what they had on me, the last thing I would do is ask someone who could use that information against me once they brought it up.
I’ve read, on at least one occasion, in our local newspaper’s police blotter about a guy who walked up to a cop, asked if he had any warrants, and found out that he did (and got a free ride downtown).
Reminds me of the UL about the guy who wrote to the FBI: “Is there an FBI file on me?”
When I was in college, an ex-CIA guy gave a lecture. He said that, after the Freedom of Information Act was passed, Soviet agents would put in FOIA requests to see if their cover had been blown. So it became standard procedure to do a new background check on anyone who put in a FOIA request.
He also said that, at international airshows, if you took a photograph of a Soviet aircraft, the KGB would do a background check on you. The lecturer was trying to recruit students to go to airshows and take photos. He figured that if he could tie up enough KGB resources on useless background checks, he might save the life of a real CIA agent or two.
When I listen in on the scanner (I used to do this very often many years ago, and only infrequently nowadays) I know that they can check:
Vehicle registration status.
The complete traffic record of the registered owner.
The complete criminal record of the registered owner.
The status of any active warrants out for the registered owner.
before they even get out of the car. They can do the above for any ID they read off as well. Sometimes the complete home address and phone number is read out over the air, too. I do not believe I’ve ever heard anything more than the above (I’ve also never heard any reference to citizenship, permanent residency, etc.)
You can do a background check in most states through that states Bureau of Investigation. Most can be done online. However, they usually only show convictions.
It all depends on the level of communication various agencies have in your state. For example, juvenile offenses subject to record expungement may not show up, and a statewide records check will return those records forwarded to the central data file by the city, borough, township, or county in which the original offense was handled. I’m in PA, and the PA State Police manage the records. A background check can be submitted online with $10 fee payable via Visa or Mastercard.
I’d ask a LEO with whom I’m friendly to run my OLN and SSN to see what comes back. Just make sure you didn’t forget about that underage drinking hearing for which you never appeared, which made the judge issue a bench warrant.
You can go to your local courthouse and request a record check. It will probably cost you $10 or so. If I knew your birthday and name, I could request one on you as well because of the FOIA.
I license foster/adoptive parents and we have them do fingerprinting that is ran through the State Bureau of Investigations and the FBI as well as local court record checks.
My experience working in Louisiana as a private investigator several years ago was that checks would need be done at each county’s courthouse, sometimes for a fee and sometimes not. If the person at the desk is feeling nice enough that day they may help you over the phone. As has been already stated, usually criminal convictions are what you will find.
With all the technology and information sharing in place now, though, this process may since have become much easier.
