The background investigator september 2013 edition

The Start Of NAPBS
By Les Rosen
A frequently asked question is how
the National Association of Profession-
al Background Screeners (NAPBS®)
got started.
“NAPBS began through the efforts of
many people. Steven Brownstein, the
editor of The Background Investigator
(a newspaper devoted to the screening
industry), held the nation’s first screen-
ing industry conferences.
At a conference in Long Beach, CA in
April, 2002, Brownstein encouraged
the attendees to think in terms of a na-
tional association in order to promote
and protect the screening industry.
Then in November, 2002, Brownstein
and The Background Investigator spon-
sored a large national conference in
Tampa, Florida, the first NAPBS con-
ference.
Volume 13 Number 9
September 2013
First Pre-employment Screening Conference
Long Beach, CA
Photograph by Steven Brownstein
From Humble
Beginnings To More
Than 700 Strong
Full Article on Page 2
PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT NO. 164
MORTONGROVE, IL
Steven
Brownstein
“On the road”

History Of The
NAPBS
A frequently asked ques-
tion is how the National
Association of Professional
Background Screeners
(NAPBS®) got started.
Here is an excellent expert
from a blog dated Jun-4-
2008 that recounts that his-
tory at http://
www.zimbio.com/member/
brettcarlson/
articles/1544647/
Great+Association+Backgr
ound+Screeners
Background investigations
are one of the most in-
demand services provided
by private investigators.
From pre-employment
screening, to tenant checks,
to corporate due diligence
investigations, the need for
comprehensive background
screening grows every day.
This field can be a very lu-
crative opportunity for pri-
vate detectives to build
their businesses. However,
unfamiliarity with the many
laws and regulations in this
area can also lead to
catastrophy. It is essential
for the PI interested in this
line of work to fully under-
stand these issues and hold
himself to a high profes-
sional standard.
Luckily, the National As-
sociation of Professional
Background Screeners is
here to help. This organiza-
tion is at the forefront of
the screening industry,
providing its members with
the information and re-
sources needed to succeed
in this growing field. I
asked Larry Lambeth,
Chairman of the NAPBS,
to discuss how the organi-
zation was formed:
“NAPBS began through
the efforts of many people.
Steve Brownstein, the edi-
tor of The Background In-
vestigator (a newspaper
devoted to the screening
industry), held the nation’s
first screening industry
conferences. At a confer-
ence in Long Beach, CA in
April, 2002, Brownstein
encouraged the attendees to
think in terms of a national
association in order to pro-
mote and protect the
screening industry. In No-
vember, 2002, Brownstein
and The Background Inves-
tigator sponsored a large
national conference in
Tampa, Florida, attended
by over 175 screening pro-
fessionals. At this meeting
there was widespread sup-
port for the formation of an
association. A steering
committee was formed to
act as an interim board to
start a background screen-
ing association The mem-
bers of the interim board
were:
Les Rosen, Chairperson
Sandra Burns
Michael Sankey
Bill Brudenell
Charlotte O’Neill
Mike Cool
Jack Wallace
The interim board, along
with other interested mem-
bers of the screening indus-
try, met in Arizona in Janu-
ary, 2003 and again in
Washington D.C. in April,
2003 to form the associa-
tion. The interim Member-
ship and Ethics committee
met in Dallas, Texas in the
Spring of 2003. In order to
provide seed money for the
group, in early 2003 a num-
ber of screening firms
stepped forward and gener-
ously donated the necessary
funds to launch the associa-
tion and to retain the ser-
vices of a professional
management firm, IMI As-
sociation Executives. A
membership drive was held
in the last half of 2003, re-
sulting in over 200 mem-
bers. Firms that joined be-
fore the first election were
entitled to use the phrase
“Founding Members” with
the NAPBS logo.
NAPBS began its first full
year of operations with an
elected Board of Directors
in 2004. On March 29-30,
2004, more than 225 indi-
viduals representing over
175 companies converged
on Scottsdale, AZ for the
inaugural Annual Confer-
ence of the National Asso-
ciation of Professional
Background Screeners. We
have close to 700 members
in 16 countries now. ”
ESR was pleased that its
president, Les Rosen, was
voted to be on the first
board of directors and se-
lected as the first co-chair
of NAPBS.
Graduation Is
Just A Click
Away
No classes, no hassle, the
advertisement on Facebook
promised. And all for a fee
of just US$199 (S$253).
Though affixed with the
Singapore Ministry of Edu-
cation's (MOE) logo, the
Facebook ad leads to an
external website called
Global Accredited Degrees,
which offers "100 per cent
legal, accredited and origi-
nal" degrees with "no ex-
ams" and "no coursework".
For US$199, you can get
yourself a bachelor's degree
from one of the "top uni-
versities around the world".
Top up another US$26
and you have yourself a
doctorate.
After signing up for a de-
gree on the website, The
New Paper was e-mailed by
Belltown University, pur-
portedly an online universi-
ty. The "university" has its
own website that looks gen-
uine and has a toll-free
number listed.
But an Internet search of
the faculty members re-
vealed an identical list of
faculty members on another
online university's website.
Responding to queries
from The New Paper, MOE
clarified that it was not as-
sociated with the website
and company. But it
prompted the ministry to
alert the public about such
fake degree mills.
In a post on its Facebook
page on Wednesday, MOE
said: "It has come to our
attention that the MOE logo
is being used without au-
thorisation by ads on Face-
book that claim to offer de-
grees approved by MOE."
Authenticity The ministry
also urged the public to
check the authenticity of
the degrees offered.
More than a decade after
degree fraud in Singapore
first made the news, fake
academic certificates are
still easily available.
Just last month, following
a crackdown by the Minis-
try of Manpower, 25 for-
eigners from Myanmar, In-
dia and the Philippines
were charged in court for
lying to obtain S Passes or
forging certificates.
Twenty were jailed for
four weeks and the rest
served 20 days' jail each as
they were unable to pay
court fines of $5,000.
In January, a Singaporean
was jailed a year for using
fake degrees and forged
testimonials to get jobs in
the human resource indus-
try.
In an attempt to guard
themselves against this
trend, employers are asking
recruitment firms to do
checks on degrees.
PUBLISHER
Steven Brownstein
CONTRIBUTORS:
Mike Sankey, Les Rosen, Dennis Brownstein, Derek Hinton, Jamie Brownstein,
Michael Brownstein
COVER PHOTOGRAPH: 1st Pre-Employment Screening Conference
COVER PHOTOGRAPHER:
Steven Brownstein
PURPOSE: “Dedicated to pre-employment screenings everywhere”
The Background Investigator is published by Steven Brownstein, LLC,
PMB 1007, Box 10001, Saipan, MP 96950. Phone: 670-256-7000. Copyright
2013 by Steven Brownstein. Some material in this publication must not be repro-
duced by any method without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Meet Steven Brownstein
On LinkedIn
Download
The Background Investigator
Current Edition
(and archive, too!)
www.thebackgroundinvestigator.com

Reprinted from The Background Investigator June 2002 Volume 2 Number 6 Edition
Reprinted from The Background Investigator First Pre-employment Screening Conference Article

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British Columbia Ontario
Manitoba Prince Edward Islands
New Brunswick Quebec
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Northwest Territories Yukon Territories
POINT TO POINT SERVICE
XR2 Criminal Search
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Shouldn’t you be offering your clients the best?
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When you REALLY need
something done, call
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The Public Record Update
A Service from BRB Publications, Inc.
There is a lot of misinformation around about public record searching. How many of the following six statements about public record search-
ing do you believe to be true?
•It’s all free online. Why should I have to pay for it?
•I can find all the information I need using Google.
•To find criminal records, all I need to do is use a national database.
•I do background checks for employers, but I am not a consumer reporting agency because I don’t provide credit reports.
•I can do all my public record searching with my membership web account that gives me access to 35,000+ databases of public records.
•Certain records may be open to the public in one state, but in another state they are not open.
The reality is that only the last statement is true. The first five statements above represent common myths thought to be true by individuals who
are looking for the easy way to find public records. If you are someone who practices due diligence when using public records for decision-
making and know the first five statements are false, you are already a step ahead.
——————————————
New Redaction Law - Illinois Civil Case Documents
Effective July 1, 2013, personal identify information will not be allowed in documents or exhibits filed for proceedings in Illinois civil court
cases. Per Supreme Court Rule 138, Personal Identity Information is defined as following:
•Birth Dates
•Social Security numbers
•Mother's maiden names
•Driver's license numbers
•Financial account numbers
•Debit and credit card numbers
The key piece element to those using public records in their normal course of business is the redaction of birth dates. Without even a partial
DOB to use as a match, it will be a struggle to properly identify a person and avoid a false-positive. But this element is quite common in civil
records.
The rule also states: "A court may order other types of information redacted or filed confidentially, consistent with the purpose and procedures
of this rule."
If a document is filed with personal information, the person whose personal iden-
tity is affected may move that the court redact the information. If granted, the
court will still have a sealed copy of the unredacted document.
A copy of Rule 138 is found at:
www.state.il.us/court/supremecourt/Rules/Art_II/ArtII
We welcome your comments and observations about The Public Record Update
Please address your comments to Michael Sankey at mike@brbpublications.com
Making copies of any part of the Public Record Update© for any purpose other than your own personal use
is prohibited unless written authorization is obtained from BRB Publications. Phone - 480-829-7475
Public Record Retriever Network - www.prrn.us
The CRA Help Desk - www.CRAHelpDesk.com
BRB's Free Public Record Resource Center - www.brbpublications.com/pubrecsites.asp
Motor Vehicle Record Decoder - www.mvrdecoder.com
BRB's Public Record Blog - www.publicrecordsblog.net
BRB's Bookstore - www.brbpublications.com/books
BRB's Public Record Blog - www.publicrecordsblog.net

Falsified
Background
Checks Show
Importance of
Accreditation
Standards
for Private
Screening Firms
In a story demonstrating
the importance of accredi-
tation standards for private
background screening
firms, the Federal Times
reports that the U.S. Office
of Personnel Management
(OPM) – which oversees
background investigations
for the government – is in-
vestigating a growing list of
cases involving the alleged
falsifying of security clear-
ance background checks
while a “consistent back-
log” of similar cases awaits
investigation. The complete
story is available on the
Federal Times website at
http://
www.federaltimes.com/
article/20130707/
ACQUISI-
TION03/307070009/
Backlog-bogus-background
-checks-grows.
The Federal Times reports
“at least 19 background in-
vestigators or researchers”
have plead guilty to, or face
sentencing for, falsifying
background checks since
2008. OPM’s Inspector
General Patrick McFarland
told lawmakers he is work-
ing on nine similar cases
and has a backlog of 36
cases awaiting investigation
due to a lack of resources.
According to the Federal
Times, the government has
spent more than $1.5 mil-
lion to reopen falsified in-
vestigations to ensure ap-
plicants deservedly re-
ceived clearances.
In a related story reported
on ESR News, the private
contractor that conducted a
security clearance back-
ground check on Edward
Snowden in 2011 that gave
him access to classified
documents from the Na-
tional Security Agency
(NSA) that he later leaked
to the media is under inves-
tigation by the federal gov-
ernment for allegedly con-
ducting inadequate back-
ground checks. OMG In-
spector General McFarland
told a Senate panel “there
may be some problems”
with Snowden’s back-
ground check.
Falsified background
checks show the im-
portance of accreditation
standards for private
screening firms. In 2010,
the National Association of
Professional Background
Screeners (NAPBS®)
launched the Background
Screening Agency Accredi-
tation Program (BSAAP) to
promote best practices,
consumer protection, and
legal compliance. The
Background Screening Cre-
dentialing Council (BSCC)
oversees the accreditation
process to ensure screening
firms that apply meet meas-
urable standards of compe-
tence.
To become NAPBS ac-
credited, background
screening organizations
must pass a rigorous onsite
audit conducted by an inde-
pendent auditing firm that
examines policies and pro-
cedures related to six criti-
cal areas of screening: Con-
sumer Protection, Legal
Compliance, Client Educa-
tion, Product Standards,
Service Standards, and
General Business Practices.
A copy of the accreditation
standards as well as a list of
accredited screening firms
is available on the NAPBS
website at http://
www.napbs.com/.
EEOC Chair
Says Criminal
Background
Checks by
Employers Not
Banned
In a letter to the Wall
Street Journal responding
to the June 15, 2013 article
‘Banning Background
Checks,’ Jacqueline A.
Berrien, Chair of the U.S.
Equal Employment Oppor-
tunity Commission
(EEOC), denied the arti-
cle’s suggestion that the
EEOC believes criminal
background checks by em-
ployers are “racist” and that
the agency wants to ban the
practice. The letter to the
Wall Street Journal from
Chair Berrien is available at
http://online.wsj.com/
article/
SB10001424127887323893
504578555722405188406.
html.
The letter from EEOC
Chair Berrien titled ‘We
Don’t Ban Background
Checks’ reads as follows:
Your editorial ‘Banning
Background Checks’ (June
15) suggests that the U.S.
Equal Employment Oppor-
tunity Commission (EEOC)
believes that criminal back-
ground checks are “racist.”
This claim is wrong.
Neither Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964
nor the EEOC prohibit em-
ployers from conducting
background checks. Em-
ployers are also free to use
background checks in mak-
ing employment decisions,
subject to the express long-
standing, well-established
requirement of Title VII
that, where they do use
such information and it has
a disparate impact against a
protected group, it must be
related to the job in ques-
tion and consistent with
business necessity.
The EEOC’s position in
these cases is neither un-
precedented nor novel. In
1987, under then-Chairman
Clarence Thomas, during
the Reagan administration,
the EEOC issued guidance
to employers that use back-
ground checks about how
to do so lawfully in accord-
ance with Title VII. Guid-
ance on the subject was al-
so issued in 1990 under
Chairman Evan Kemp, dur-
ing the George H.W. Bush
administration. Last year,
the commission updated the
guidance; however, it by no
means marks a sea change
in EEOC practice or policy.
Our lawsuits against BMW
and Dollar General do not
challenge the employers’
decisions to conduct back-
ground checks. They in-
stead challenge screening
processes that have a dis-
proportionate impact on
African Americans and that
the commission believes
are not job related and con-
sistent with business neces-
sity. Finally, both the up-
dated EEOC guidance on
employers’ consideration of
arrest and conviction rec-
ords and approval to file
these cases received bipar-
tisan support in the com-
mission.
Jacqueline A. Berrien
Chair U.S. Equal Employ-
ment Opportunity Commis-
sion
Washington
Les Rosen’s
Corner
A monthly column
By Lester Rosen,
Attorney at Law

Social Media
Password
Privacy Laws
Recently Passed
In Several States
Legislation has been intro-
duced or is pending in at
least 36 states so far in
2013 to prevent employers
from requesting usernames
and passwords to social
media websites and person-
al Internet accounts of em-
ployees and job applicants,
according the National
Conference of State Legis-
latures (NCSL). Eight
states – Arkansas, Colora-
do, Nevada, New Mexico,
Oregon, Utah, Vermont,
and Washington – have en-
acted such legislation in
2013. A current list of all
social media password pri-
vacy legislation is available
at http://www.ncsl.org/
issues-research/telecom/
employer-access-to-social-
media-passwords-
2013.aspx.
In most cases, “social me-
dia” is broadly defined un-
der these laws to include
email accounts, videos,
photographs, blogs, pod-
casts, instant messages,
electronic mail (e-mail),
Internet website profiles,
and standard social media
websites such as Facebook,
Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Most of the laws also in-
clude exceptions when
passwords are necessary to
comply with a state or fed-
eral law or regulation or to
access the employer’s own
internal computer or infor-
mation system. The follow-
ing states have passed so-
cial media password priva-
cy legislation involving
employer access in recent
months:
Nevada Assembly Bill
181: Approved by Nevada
Governor Brian Sandoval
on June 13, 2013, A.B. 181
makes it illegal for a Neva-
da employer to require, re-
quest, or suggest that an
employee or a prospective
employee disclose the user
name, password, or other
access information to per-
sonal social media ac-
counts. Under the law –
which takes effect October
1, 2013 – employers cannot
fire, discipline, discriminate
against, or fail to hire or
promote, employees or pro-
spective employees who
refuse, decline, or fail to
provide social media infor-
mation. Nevada A.B. 181 is
available at http://
www.leg.state.nv.us/
Session/77th2013/Bills/AB/
AB181_EN.pdf.
Oregon House Bill 2654:
Signed into law by Oregon
Governor John Kitzhaber
on May 22, 2013, HB 2654
– which becomes effective
January 1, 2014 – makes it
an unlawful for employers
to force employees or job
applicants to provide access
to their personal protected
social media accounts. Em-
ployers also cannot gain
access to social media sites
by requiring employees or
applicants to “friend” them
on their social media ac-
counts or compel employ-
ees to access a personal so-
cial media account in the
presence of the employer.
Oregon HB 2654 is availa-
ble at http://
landru.leg.state.or.us/13reg/
measures/hb2600.dir/
hb2654.intro.html.
Washington Senate Bill
5211: Signed into law by
Washington Governor
Inslee on May 21, 2013,
S.B. 5211 prohibits em-
ployers from accessing so-
cial networking accounts of
employees and applicants
through: requiring disclo-
sure of log-in information;
asking for access to the ac-
count in (i.e. shoulder surf-
ing); requiring the ac-
ceptance of a “friend” re-
quest from the employer;
requiring a change in priva-
cy settings to make the ac-
count accessible to the em-
ployer; and using log-in
credentials inadvertently
obtained through the em-
ployer’s monitoring of cor-
porate electronic resources.
The bill takes effect on July
28, 2013. Washington Sen-
ate Bill 5211 is available at
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/
billinfo/summary.aspx?
bill=5211.
Colorado House Bill 13-
1046: Approved by Colora-
do Governor John W. Hick-
enlooper on May 11, 2013,
H.B. 13-1046 prohibits em-
ployers from suggesting,
requesting, or requiring em-
ployees or applicants to dis-
close their user name, pass-
word, or access information
to “personal electronic
communications device.”
Employers also cannot
compel employees or appli-
cants to add anyone to their
list of social media contacts
or cause
employees or applicants to
change their privacy set-
tings associated with a so-
cial networking account.
The bill took effect upon
signing. Colorado H.B. 13-
1046 is available at http://
openstates.org/co/
bills/2013A/HB13-1046/.
Arkansas House Bill
1901: Signed by Arkansas
Governor Mike Beebe on
April 22, 2013, H.B. 1901
prohibits an employer from
requiring, requesting, sug-
gesting, or causing a cur-
rent or prospective employ-
ee from: disclosing
usernames or passwords for
a social media accounts;
adding anyone to the list of
social media contacts; or
changing privacy settings
of social media accounts.
Employers many not threat-
en to discharge, discipline,
or otherwise penalize cur-
rent employees or fail or
refuse to hire prospective
employees for exercising
their rights under the new
law. Arkansas H.B. 1901 is
available at http://
openstates.org/ar/
bills/2013/HB1901/.

Dennis
Brownstein’s
Extreme Court
News

Fired Judge
Blames Elf For
Court Mishaps
The Philippines Supreme
Court has asked a fired
judge who claims he is as-
sisted by three elves to stop
making threats of “ungodly
reprisal.”
The court kicked Florenti-
no Floro Jr. off the bench
largely because of his belief
in the supernatural, the
Wall Street Journal reports
(sub. req.). A medical clinic
determined that the judge
was suffering from psycho-
sis.
Since then Floro has bat-
tled to get his job back, ap-
pearing on TV and winning
converts who seek his heal-
ing powers. At the same
time, a series of unfor-
tunate incidents have be-
fallen the supreme court
justices or their families,
including serious illnesses
and car accidents.
Floro says the person to
blame for the mishaps is
one of the elves, "Luis," a
"king of kings" who is an
avenger. He told the news-
paper that the elves help
him predict the future, but
he has never consulted
them when issuing judicial
decisions.
The Supreme Court has
not reversed any of Floro’s
decisions since firing him.
Judge Holds
Himself In
Contempt
Judge Raymond Voet in
Ionia County, Michigan,
has a simple courtroom
rule: any device that goes
off in court earns the owner
a contempt citation.
Rules like this cut down
on disruptions and engen-
der a reverence for the
courts that is often lacking.
Judge Vote takes his rule
so seriously that he applied
it to himself when his
phone went off.
http://extremecourtnews.blogspot.com/
Chicago court that Chicago’ researchers do not know about.
This can be very costly for you as files are sometimes kept at
this location.

Cruise Lines
Report Crime
Statistics
Three major cruise lines
have posted on their Web
sites the number of serious
crimes reported on their
ships, the first public airing
of such statistics. The lines,
Royal Caribbean Cruises,
Carnival Corporation and
Norwegian Cruise Line,
released the figures in the
wake of a Senate bill that
would require all cruise
lines that use American
ports to report crime fig-
ures.
The data from the lines,
which have a nearly 80 per-
cent combined market
share, detail the number of
suspicious deaths or homi-
cides, assaults, rapes, kid-
napping and thefts greater
than $10,000 reported by
passengers or crew. The
numbers suggest a low
crime rate: there were no
homicides on the lines this
year, for example.
The proposed law that
prompted the change was
introduced by Sen. John D.
Rockefeller IV, a West Vir-
ginia Democrat and chair-
man of the Senate Com-
merce Committee. In re-
sponse to the posted data,
Mr. Rockefeller said in a
statement, “It’s notable to
see they’re trying, by vol-
untarily posting some crime
data online, but serious
gaps still remain in the in-
formation they’re making
available.” He added, “I’m
convinced the only way
we’re going to make a
meaningful difference for
consumers is by taking leg-
islative action.”

FBI Preliminary
2012 Crime
Statistics
The new preliminary Uni-
form Crime Reporting
(UCR) statistics for 2012
indicate that when com-
pared to data for 2011, the
number of violent crimes
reported by law enforce-
ment agencies around the
country increased 1.2 per-
cent during 2012, while the
number of property crimes
decreased 0.8 percent.
Among the highlights of
the preliminary report:
■Overall, when compared
to 2011 figures, the West
experienced the largest in-
crease in reported violent
crime (up 3.3 percent), and
the Northeast experienced
the only decrease (down
0.6 percent).
■The Northeast was the
only part of the country
where the four violent
crime categories saw de-
creases across the board—
murder (down 4.4 percent),
forcible rapes (down 0.2
percent), robberies (down
1.4 percent), and aggravat-
ed assaults (down 0.1 per-
cent).
■The largest rise in report-
ed violent crime (up 3.7
percent) was in cities with
populations of 500,000-
999,999.
■The West experienced the
only increase in reported
property crime (up 5.2 per-
cent), while the number of
property crimes dropped
1.6 percent in the North-
east, 2.1 percent in the
Midwest, and 3.5 percent in
the South.
■The number of re-
ported motor vehicle thefts
grew by 10.6 percent in the
West while showing de-
clines in the Northeast
(down 7.9 percent), the
Midwest (down 3.1 per-
cent), and the South (down
2.9 percent).
■The number of arson inci-
dents—tallied separately
from other property crimes
because of various levels of
participation by reporting
agencies—fell 1.2 percent.
The Most
Dangerous Cities
In America
After falling for five con-
secutive years, the number
of violent crimes across the
United States rose by 1.2%
in 2012. Based on data pub-
lished by the Federal Bu-
reau of Investigation (FBI),
the increase was even
greater in some of Ameri-
ca’s largest cities. In 2012,
for the third year in a row,
Flint, Michigan had the
highest violent crime rate in
the country.
According to the FBI, vio-
lent crime includes murder,
nonnegligent manslaughter,
rape, robbery and aggravat-
ed assault. In some cases,
the cities with the highest
violent crime rate, includ-
ing Flint and Oakland, had
high rates in all four cate-
gories. However, most of
the most violent cities tend
to do very poorly only in a
few categories.
Crime in these cities is
typically not limited to just
violent crime. Three cities
— Birmingham, St. Louis
and Oakland — were
among the 10 worst cities
in the nation for both vio-
lent crime and property
crime. In some of the most
dangerous cities, specific
types of property crime
were especially common.
Flint and Cleveland had
among the highest burglary
rates, while Oakland, De-
troit and St. Louis had
among the highest rates of
vehicle theft.
The economies of many of
the most dangerous cities
have been in bad shape for
years, in some cases long
before the Great Recession.
The populations of many of
the most dangerous cities
declined, leaving behind
highly impoverished urban
centers. The loss of eco-
nomic diversity, explained
John Roman, senior fellow
at the Urban institute, only
serves to exacerbate crime
in cities like Detroit, Flint,
Cleveland and St. Louis.
In fact, all the 10 most
dangerous cities had pov-
erty rates above the nation-
al rate of 15.9% in 2011. In
half of these cities, more
than 30% of the population
lived in poverty. Detroit
and Flint had poverty rates
of more than 40%. “It is
very clear that poverty in
particular is associated with
higher crime rates,” ex-
plained Roman.
However, the relationship
between the two is less cer-
tain. It is “very difficult to
say whether crime makes
places poorer, or poverty
causes more crime,” Ro-
man noted.
In many of the nation’s
most dangerous cities, un-
employment is also ex-
tremely high. Seven of the
10 cities with the highest
levels of violent crime had
unemployment rates above
10% in 2012, much higher
than the national unem-
ployment rate of 8.1% that
year. In two cities, Detroit
and Stockton, the unem-
ployment rate was more
than 18% last year.
Low educational attain-
ment also goes hand-in-
hand with high crime rates.
In all of the 10 most dan-
gerous cities, the percent-
age of adults with a high
school diploma was below
the 86% national average.
In five of these metro areas,
the percentage of adults
with a diploma was below
80%.
On its website, the FBI
instructs readers to avoid
comparing city violence
because rankings tend to be
simplistic and ignore fac-
tors that influence crime, as
well as the different ways
crimes are measured and
reported. For this reason,
Roman cautioned against
directly comparing cities
based on their individual
crime rates. However, be-
cause the cities with the
highest and lowest violent
crime rates have remained
consistent for many years,
he believes comparing city
ranks was useful.
Here are your top 5
most dangerous
cities:
5. Memphis
4. St. Louis
3. Oakland
2. Detroit
1. Flint

A Look At Crime
Statistics For
Flint—The Most
Dangerous City
In America
1. Flint, Mich.
> Violent crimes per
100,000: 2,729.5
> Population: 101,632
> 2012 murders: 63
> Poverty rate: 40.6%
> Percentage of adults with
high school degree: 82.9%
With a staggering 2,729.5
violent crimes per 100,000
residents, no city had a
higher violent crime rate
than Flint. The city of just
101,632 people had 63 total
murders and 1,930 aggra-
vated assaults, both the
highest relative to the city’s
population. Flint also had
nationwide highs in burgla-
ry rates and arson per
100,000 people.
The sheriff of Genesee
County, where Flint is lo-
cated, proposed a plan to
create a violent crime mo-
bile response unit that
would cost $3 million.
However, Governor Rick
Snyder rejected the plan
because he believed re-
sources would be better
“integrated into the ongo-
ing efforts to make Flint
safer.”
Like Detroit, Flint has suf-
fered economically in re-
cent years. The median
household income was
just $23,380 in 2011, the
second-lowest of all 555
cities measured by the
U.S. Census Bureau.
State Attorneys General
from West Virginia, Ala-
bama, Colorado, Georgia,
Kansas, Montana, Nebraska
South Carolina and Utah
have sent a co-signed letter
to the EEOC urging the
EEOC to reconsider and
dismiss the lawsuits filed
against Dollar General and
BMW.
The lawsuits filed by the
EEOC against Dollar and
BMW allege that the em-
ployers’ use of “bright-
line” criminal background
checks in the hiring process
violates Title VII of the
1964 Civil Rights Act. Ac-
cording to the EEOC, Dol-
lar General and BMW vio-
lated the disparate impact
provision by using general-
ly applicable background
checks as bright-line
screening tools in the hiring
process.
What was the motivation
for this letter to the EEOC
and will it change any-
thing?
Regarding motivation,
some of this has to be
viewed through the red/
blue prism of politics. If
you look at the states that
sent the letter you will see
mostly red.
Another motivation is a
couple of the states’ con-
stituents. Big constituents.
Big, big constituents.
BMW is a major employer
in South Carolina. Their
plant in Spartanburg em-
ploys over 8000 people.
According to data from the
U.S. Department of Com-
merce, based on the 2011
value of BMW exports
from South Carolina, the
company’s Spartanburg
facility is the largest auto-
motive exporter from the
U.S. (Speaking of seeing
red, I wonder what General
Patton would have to say
about that were he still
alive?)
Regarding the other de-
fendant, Dollar General is
one of West Virginia’s
largest private employers.
Will their letter change
anything? I doubt it. The
EEOC has answered (fairly
scathingly) some pro-
business articles that at-
tacked them for the new
guidance. I do not see a sit-
uation in which those at the
EEOC in Washington sit
down with some of these
Attorneys General and
work out a compromise or
walk back what they have
done. If it should happen, I
don’t think it will be sub-
stantially different—
employers will need to as-
sess job relatedness and
business necessity and do
some personal assessing.
In the meantime, the guid-
ance for employers is what
the guidance is for employ-
ers. And the EEOC is being
aggressive. Aggressiveness
doesn’t just mean going
after the big companies.
The EEOC has gone from
less than 50 investigations
in 2006 to nearly 600 in
2012. In 2012, the EEOC
recovered $365.2 million in
settlements. There were
99,412 cases filed with the
EEOC in 2012.
For every BMW or Dollar
General you hear about,
there’s a few hundred that
you don’t hear about. Re-
cently for example, J.B.
Hunt transportation entered
into a settlement with the
EEOC over charges of ra-
cial discrimination based
on a criminal record back-
ground check. The EEOC
claimed that J.B. Hunt dis-
criminated against an Afri-
can-American job candi-
date who was denied a
truck driver position at a
J.B. Hunt facility in San
Bernardino in 2009. The
agency claimed the compa-
ny denied employment
based on a criminal convic-
tion record that was unre-
lated to the duties of the
job. The alleged victim has
entered into a private settle-
ment agreement with J.B.
Hunt. In addition to the
specific allegations in the
San Bernardino incident,
the EEOC investigated the
company’s broad policies
and warned against the use
of blanket prohibitions that
disqualify candidates with
criminal records
The only sure thing in life
is change—but that could
change. In regard to the re-
cent EEOC Guidance it
could change, but given the
political climate and gen-
eral warp speed of govern-
ment action (yawn), I’m
not holding my breath for
changes soon as a result of
the Attorneys General let-
ter.
Derek Hinton
“In My Opinion”
Dennis Brownstein
addresses pre-employment

NZ Criminal
Record May
Soon Be A Click
Away
Finding out someone's NZ
criminal history could soon
be as easy as clicking a but-
ton, under major changes to
improve public access to
court documents.
Justice Minister Judith
Collins told the Sunday
Star-Times the current sys-
tem, where people often
have to apply in writing to
the courts for access to in-
formation, is "completely
insane".
She wants all decisions
online once the courts have
completed a move to an
electronic operating model
next year. The documents
would effectively act as a
public register of criminals
and improve public safety,
she said.
It would also make the
court process more open.
"If a matter is heard in
open court that anyone can
attend, why is it the next
day they strangely can't ac-
cess that information? Peo-
ple have a right to know
about what goes on in their
courts."
Collins accepts some
groups will "scream and
cry" about the plan, but be-
lieves there is overwhelm-
ing public interest in mak-
ing the information availa-
ble.
A Ministry of Justice
spokesman said work on
Collins' proposal had be-
gun, but it was early days.
"It is a complex piece of
work and we are currently
looking at what IT is need-
ed to support it. We also
need to develop a robust
system to remove sup-
pressed information from
judgments before they are
published."
Court of Appeal and near-
ly all Supreme Court and
High Court decisions since
2005 are published online.
The public can apply in
writing to receive a copy of
a District Court judgment.
However, a lot of criminal
decisions are recorded, but
not transcribed unless they
are needed for official pur-
poses, largely because of a
lack of resources.
Collins has an ally in
Chief District Court Judge
Jan-Marie Doogue who be-
lieves it is important the
public understand the rea-
soning behind court deci-
sions.
"We welcome any devel-
opment which would ena-
ble the decisions of the Dis-
trict Court to be available
in a timely fashion,"
Doogue said.
"This would enable trans-
parency and accountabil-
ity."
Media Freedom commit-
tee member Clive Lind said
Collins' plan would be a
great way of getting infor-
mation about court pro-
ceedings into the public
do-
main. "What we do at the
moment doesn't make sense
with today's technology."
The Sensible Sentencing
Trust is also excited about
the changes, which it be-
lieves are long overdue. It
was often a battle for vic-
tims to get hold of infor-
mation, spokeswoman Ruth
Money said.
A sample criminal record report from New Zealand
Auckland, New Zealand courthouse
Photograph by Steven Brownstein

Northern Ireland
Minister Asks
Public To Be
Alert When
Applying For
Criminal Record
Checks
Justice Minister David
Ford has advised the public
to exercise caution if of-
fered discounted rates for
criminal records checks and
to be careful if employers
are asking for payment in
suspicious circumstances.
The call follows reports
from members of the public
who have applied, and been
asked to pay, for criminal
record checks through job
advertisements on websites
which claim that they can
provide such a service at a
special discounted rate, the
sites claim the rate has been
agreed with AccessNI. Ac-
cessNI does not offer dis-
counted rates.
The public can find out
more information on the
service AccessNI provides,
including who requires a
criminal record check and
how much it costs at
http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/
accessni.
David Ford said: “My De-
partment has received a
small number of reports
recently about members of
the public being asked to
apply for a basic criminal
record check through a po-
tential employer with the
suggestion that these can be
offered at discounted rates.
I want to emphasise that
discounted rates are not an
option AccessNI offers for
disclosures and urges cau-
tion when being asked to
forward payment in respect
of internet job applications.
The public should also seek
to satisfy themselves about
the legitimacy of the em-
ployer if they have a suspi-
cion.
Notes:
1. This is a precautionary
alert.
2. AccessNI is liaising
with Trading Standards
over a possible investiga-
tion into posts advertised
on linewhich said they re-
quired an AccessNI basis
criminal record check
which could be provided at
a discounted rate. Payment
was requested.
3. Under the legislation
(Section 112 of Part V of
the Police Act 1997) any
individual can apply for a
criminal conviction certifi-
cation (Basic Disclosure)
providing they make an ap-
plication and pay the
agreed fee (£26). A Basic
disclosure will show details
of all convictions consid-
ered to be unspent under
the Rehabilitation of Of-
fenders (Northern Ireland)
Order 1978, or state that no
such convictions were
found
4. AccessNI supplies
criminal history infor-
mation, upon request, to
organisations and individu-
als, primarily to help them
make safer recruitment de-
cisions. Some organisations
are required by law to con-
sider the suitability of ap-
plicants for certain posi-
tions or to ensure that they
are not barred from work-
ing with vulnerable groups.
5. A criminal history
check, also known as a dis-
closure, will search your
details against United
Kingdom criminal records
and other police infor-
mation and may disclose
details of an applicant's
criminal history. The
checks could include a
search of barred lists which
are kept by the Westminster
government. In Northern
Ireland the checks are car-
ried out by AccessNI.
6. The cost of checks is as
follows:
· £26 – basic or standard
check
· £30 – enhanced check
· £150 - one off registration
fee for organisations to use
AccessNI services - this
includes the processing of
registered body details and
checks on signatories
· £10 - registration of each
counter signatory
· individuals meeting the
AccessNI definition of a
volunteer may be entitled to
a free check.

No Reason To
Limit App Ac-
cess To Hong
Kong Public
Records
by Alex Lo (Hong Kong)
Privacy protection is a good
thing, until it is not. When
you have a busybody of a
privacy commissioner ob-
structing people's access to
public information, it be-
comes counterproductive.
Commissioner Allan
Chiang Yam-wang has
ruled that a mobile app
called Do No Evil breached
data protection laws and
ordered the firm that oper-
ates it to halt a particularly
popular service - an online
search of public records
like litigation and bankrupt-
cy cases.
If people cannot use the
app, to do the searches,
they can go to the judiciary,
the Official Receiver's Of-
fice and the Companies
Registry to find the docu-
ments, as they did in the
past. They are all available
for public inspection. As
far as we know, and the
commission has not disput-
ed it, the company has only
collected data from legal
proceedings that are al-
ready in public records. It
has a database of more than
two million such records.
The firm has voluntarily
complied with the commis-
sion's order, as fighting it in
court will be costly for such
a small commercial entity,
even if it has an excellent
case to argue.
Chiang thinks Do No Evil
provides sensitive personal
data - including the names
of litigants, partial identity
card numbers, addresses,
claims amounts and compa-
ny directors' data. So what?
I can find all this data if I
go to a government office -
and not just in bankruptcy
and litigation case files, but
in vehicle registrations,
land-title ownership and
business registrations as
well.
Chiang claims it is a com-
mon misconception that
personal data collected
from the public domain is
open to unrestricted use.
No use is unrestricted, but
it's not clear Chiang has the
competence or power to
decide what amounts to le-
gitimate use and how to
restrict access to data being
used. It is certainly not in
his power or mandate to
decide the manner in which
they can be accessed -
whether physically through
a public office or a mobile
app.
Chiang is fond of saying
that the use of personal data
for anything other than the
original purpose should be
restricted unless voluntary
consent of the subject is
obtained.
It makes sense to restrict
how companies and gov-
ernment departments use
clients' data they collect; it
makes no sense in the case
of public records.
HK Privacy
Commissioner
Fears Change,
Says Activist
Corporate crusader says the
Do No Evil app was only
providing what is already
public and 'Luddite' com-
missioner should be re-
placed
A prominent corporate gov-
ernance activist has lashed
out at the privacy watchdog
for failing to acknowledge
the need for easier access to
information.
And David Webb says its
commissioner, Allan
Chiang Yam-wang, should
be "replaced with someone
who understands modern
technology" better.
"Frankly, I think Mr
Chiang is a technophobic
Luddite and needs to be
replaced by someone who
won't keep attacking ser-
vices that provide public
access to data that is al-
ready public," said Webb.
He was responding to a
move by the privacy watch-
dog to bar a company from
supplying data on individu-
als - gleaned from publicly
available litigation and
bankruptcy records - via a
smartphone application.
The Office of the Privacy
Commissioner for Personal
Data yesterday said it had
ordered the operator of mo-
bile app Do No Evil to
cease supplying "sensitive"
data after it was found to
have invaded personal data
privacy by allowing users
to search for individuals by
name.
Webb said the watchdog's
report contained several
inconsistencies. "[Chiang's]
position is inconsistent. He
says it is OK for corporate
services to do it for other
corporations, but it is not
OK for a business to pro-
vide this service to a con-
sumer … tenants and land-
lords may want to look up
whether either have been
sued in the past and small
businesses may want to
conduct due diligence,"
Webb said.
"But any information that
has gone through the courts
is in the public domain so I
don't see why they're forc-
ing people to go down the
corporate route."
Webb criticised the report's
premise that people with
similar names could be
mistaken during a search,
saying unique identifiers
such as partial identifica-
tion numbers, which are
also public, would help to
avoid mix-ups.
"The commissioner should
explain why a company can
provide [background
search] services through
web platforms and not mo-
bile apps," he said.
Webb was forced by the
watchdog earlier this year
to withdraw a short-lived
database listing the identity
card numbers of 1,100
company directors includ-
ing tycoons Thomas Kwok
Ping-kwong and Li Ka-
shing.
In both cases, the watchdog
argues that misuse of per-
sonal data from public reg-
istries that is not directly
related to the original pur-
pose could constitute a
breach of the privacy law.
Webb's push for the free
flow of information was
echoed by Alex Kong, of
IT company Sino Dynamic
Solutions, which developed
the Do No Evil app. "We
call the app Do No Evil to
convey this message: easy
public access to criminal
records would help deter
crime," he said.
The company argues that
the data, which is all ob-
tained from public records
provided by the govern-
ment, is for employers to
conduct background
searches and due diligence
on potential employees.
Kong gave the example of
schools being required to
check whether teachers had
committed sex crimes.
A team of nine people had
worked on the app for 18
months, he said. "A compa-
ny once offered to buy the
rights to the app for
HK$600,000, but we re-
fused the offer due to the
long-term potential of the
app. Now everything has
been in vain," Kong said.
The firm has also scrapped
plans to develop apps facil-
itating company and land
searches.
The right of individuals to
privacy is not absolute, the
privacy commissioner said
on Tuesday. It must be bal-
anced against other rights
and the public interest, he
said. Exemptions from the
Personal Data (Privacy)
Ordinance include the use
of personal data to prevent
or detect crime or dishones-
ty, and for reporting pur-
poses where information
published is in the public
interest.
He said the Do No Evil app
"seriously invaded" privacy
and the exemptions did not

Scammers
Promise A Clear
Criminal Record
A recent string of scam
calls promises Spokane
County residents that a
clean criminal record is just
a phone call away.
Over the past several
months, citizens have re-
ceived calls from scammers
claiming to be from the
Spokane County Sheriff’s
Office saying there’s a war-
rant out for their arrest and
that whoever they’re living
with may be charged for
harboring a wanted person,
according to a Sheriff’s Of-
fice news release. The call-
er says that if they pay a fee
their record will be cleared.
When the scammers call,
caller identification will
display the sheriff’s office
administration number. The
Federal Communications
Commission has released a
guide to this scam method,
known as “spoofing.”
The Sheriff’s Office never
tells people they can pay
their way out of a warrant,
Deputy Craig Chamberlin
said.
“We either go find them,
or when we contact them
and find out they have (a
warrant),” Chamberlin said,
“that’s when we take them
to jail.”

Jobless Blacks
Should Cheer
Background
Checks
by Jason Riley
The Obama administration
took one on the chin earlier
this month when a federal
court ruled that companies
may use criminal-
background checks in hir-
ing without being guilty of
racial discrimination. Em-
ployers are thrilled about
the decision, obviously.
Less obvious is that the
black unemployed, whose
numbers have swelled un-
der President Obama, also
have reason to cheer.
The case dates to 2009,
when the Equal Employ-
ment Opportunity Commis-
sion sued Freeman Co., an
event management firm.
The EEOC alleged that the
company's criminal-
background checks for job
applicants discriminated
against blacks, who in gen-
eral are more likely than
other groups to have crimi-
nal histories.
Judge Roger Titus of the
U.S. District Court in Mar-
yland disagreed. In his
Aug. 9 ruling, he said that
checking a person's crimi-
nal history is "a legitimate
component of a reasonable
hiring process." Employers
"have a clear incentive to
avoid hiring employees
who have a proven tenden-
cy to defraud or steal from
their employers, engage in
workplace violence, or who
otherwise appear to be un-
trustworthy and unreliable."
The meat of the ruling,
however, is the court's blis-
tering takedown of the gov-
ernment's "expert" report,
authored by an outside stat-
istician who attempted to
establish that Freeman's
criminal-background
checks disproportionately
harmed black job-seekers.
Judge Titus described the
report as "an egregious ex-
ample of scientific dishon-
esty," its analysis
"laughable," "skewed" and
full of "cherry-picked da-
ta." He concluded that the
"mind-boggling-number of
errors" rendered the
EEOC's "disparate impact
conclusions worthless."
There are "simply no facts
here to support a theory of
disparate impact resulting
from any identified, specif-
ic practice."
It's bad enough that the
Obama administration is
using dodgy numbers to
bring bogus racial discrimi-
nation cases. But the whole
premise of the EEOC's
campaign against criminal-
background checks may be
off-base if the goal is to
increase job opportunities
for minorities, ex-offenders
or anyone with a spotty
work history.
On the contrary, an Octo-
ber 2006 study in the Jour-
nal of Law and Economics,
"Perceived Criminality,
Criminal Background
Checks, and the Racial Hir-
ing Practices of Employ-
ers," found that "employers
that check criminal back-
grounds are in general more
likely to hire African
Americans," according to
Harry Holzer of
Georgetown University and
his two co-authors. "[T]he
ad-
verse consequence of em-
ployer-initiated background
checks on the likelihood of
hiring African Americans is
more than offset by the
positive effect of eliminat-
ing statistical discrimina-
tion." These researchers
surmise that employers
who can screen for prison
records are less likely to
rely on prejudice when hir-
ing.
Blacks aren't the only ben-
eficiaries. Analyzing
"employer willingness to
hire other stigmatized
groups of workers (such as
workers with gaps in their
employment history)," they
found the same pattern. The
results, they wrote,
"suggest that in the absence
of background checks, em-
ployers use race, gaps in
employment history, and
other perceived correlates
of criminal activity to as-
sess the likelihood of an
applicant's previous felony
convictions and factor such
assessments into the hiring
decision."
"The Effect of Criminal
Background Checks on
Hiring Ex-Offenders," pub-
lished in the August 2008
issue of Criminology and
Public Policy, also suggests
that the EEOC's effort to
keep criminal history ques-
tions off job applications—
sometimes called "banning
the box"—could have unin-
tended consequences. "It is
not clear that the basic as-
sumption of the "Ban the
Box" movement—that in-
formation about criminal
history eliminates people
from the queue—is cor-
rect," wrote UCLA's Mi-
chael Stoll and Shawn
Bushway of SUNY Albany.
The authors found evidence
"consistent with the idea
that some firms check to
gain information and not
necessarily to exclude alto-
gether the hiring of ex-
offenders." Thus
"initiatives aimed at re-
stricting background checks
for those firms not legally
required to check may not
have the desired effect of
increasing ex-offender em-
ployment."
Alas, the Obama admin-
istration doesn't seem much
interested in the research
showing that employers
who perform criminal
back-
ground checks are more
likely to hire black appli-
cants than employers who
do not. The EEOC hasn't
ruled out an appeal of the
Freeman decision, and it is
moving ahead with similar
lawsuits filed in June
against retailer Dollar Gen-
eral and a U.S. subsidiary
of car maker BMW.
September 2013

One In Three
Scottish Men
'Likely To Have
A Criminal
Record'
More than a third of men
and almost one in ten wom-
en in Scotland are likely to
have at least one criminal
conviction, according to a
new report.
The figures were revealed
in a research paper examin-
ing changes to the law gov-
erning when criminal con-
victions are considered
spent.
In was produced in re-
sponse to a Scottish Gov-
ernment consultation on the
Rehabilitation of Offenders
Act (1974) to be launched
this summer.
The act has been criticised
for not achieving the right
balance between protecting
the public and allowing
people to put their previous
offending behaviour behind
them and get back into em-
ployment.
Concerns have been raised
that rehabilitation periods
set out in law are too long
and offenders face stigma
while waiting for a criminal
record to expire.
A significant portion of
the population faces regular
criminal record checks, re-
searchers from the Scottish
Centre for Crime and Jus-
tice Research (SCCJR)
found.
Scottish Government anal-
ysis of data from the Scot-
tish Offenders Index
showed that more than a
third (38%) of men and al-
most one in ten (nine per-
cent) of women born in
1973 are known to have at
least one criminal convic-
tion, the report says.
"Extrapolating to the pop-
ulation as a whole, at least
one-third of the adult male
population and nearly one
in ten of the adult female
population is likely to have
a criminal record," it said.
Disclosure Scotland pro-
cesses more than one mil-
lion applications for basic
disclosure of criminal con-
victions every year, the re-
search found.
Authors Paul McGuin-
ness, Fergus McNeill and
Sarah Armstrong, from the
University of Glasgow,
suggest possible reforms to
the system including modi-
fication of the waiting peri-
ods for convictions to be-
come spent and issuing ex-
offenders with a certificate
of rehabilitation.
A Scottish Government
spokeswoman said: "We
are planning to issue a dis-
cussion paper on how the
Act 1974 might be modern-
ised shortly.
"We do not hold a fixed
view about how the regime
might be modernised and
reformed and this paper is
designed to provide all
those with potential interest
the chance to influence how
specific proposals for mod-
ernisation and reform might
be developed.
"The Rehabilitation of Of-
fenders Act 1974 has been
on the statue books for
nearly 40 years and it is
important to ensure the leg-
islation still operates in line
with its original purposes of
balancing the need to pro-
tect the public whilst allow-
ing ex-offenders to be reha-
bilitated from their previ-
ous offending behaviour."
U.S. Prison
Population
Declined
For Third
Consecutive
Year During
2012
The U.S. prison popula-
tion declined 1.7 percent
from 2011 to 2012, falling
to an estimated 1,571,013
prisoners, according to the
U.S. Bureau of Justice Sta-
tistics.
It was the third consecu-
tive year of a decline in the
number of state prisoners.
Nine states had a decrease
of more than 1,000 prison-
ers in 2012: California,
Texas, North Carolina, Col-
orado, Arkansas, New
York, Florida, Virginia and
Maryland.
New
Hampshire’s
Court System
Moving Online
As early as November,
people who file small
claims lawsuits in Concord
and Plymouth will have to
do so on the Internet.
The electronic filing re-
quirement is part of a pilot
program the state’s judicial
branch is launching in ad-
vance of rolling out a $7.25
million online version of
the state court system.
The e-court project began
in 2011 and should be fully
functional in 2016, allow-
ing attorneys, litigants and
residents to file lawsuits,
pay fines and access court
documents from their living
room.

Rockdale, GA
Goes Online
(Well, sort of)
The Rockdale County Su-
perior Clerk’s Office re-
cently unveiled an online
system that permits attor-
neys to access court records
and calendars without hav-
ing to go to the courthouse.
Superior Court Clerk Ruth
Wilson announced the
launch of the Attorney Re-
mote Access Service. Every
attorney of record with cas-
es before the Rockdale Su-
perior and State courts will
be able remotely access and
print documents and calen-
dars by registering for the
service through the Clerk’s
Office website,
www.rockdaleclerk.com,
and clicking on the “Online
Services” tab.
Specifically, Wilson said
that records associated with
cases and court calendars in
the county’s Superior,
State, Magistrate and Pro-
bate courts are available
through the system. Cur-
rently non-judicial and land
records are not available,
but should be in the near
future, she said.
“This is something attor-
neys have been requesting
for years,” Wilson stated in
a press release announcing
the Remote Access Service.
“We are pleased to finally
to be able to respond to
their requests.”
Wilson said she expects
the new online system,
which is similar to other
remote access systems for
court records in other juris-
dictions, will eventually
reduce the amount of traffic
in the Clerk’s Office.
“By providing this remote
access, we reduce the num-
ber of calls, visits and
emails we need to handle,”
she stated in the release.
“That enables us to make
better use of our limited
resources while keeping
our headcount low.”
Wilson said in a written
reponse to questions from
the Citizen on Monday that
the cost for implementing
the Remote Access Service
was approximately $8,000.
While it’s new, some local
attorneys are optimistic
about the Remote Access
Service.
On a flyer distributed by
the Clerk’s Office about the
new service, David Wood,
managing partner with
Wood & Wood LLP, of-
fered this testimonial:
“Like it. Appreciate it.
Love it. Really do. Great
addition.”
Laura French of the
French Law Group LLC
said she hasn’t had a
chance to use the new sys-
tem, but thinks it will be a
benefit.
Anything that allows at-
torneys to more efficiently
serve our clients and inter-
act with the court at the
same time is nothing but
positive,” she said. “I be-
lieve this will really save
attorneys, and therefore our
clients, time and money.”
Nose Spray
Narcan Reverses
Overdoses In
Mass. Town At
High Rate
The police department in
Quincy, Mass., is requiring
officers to carry a nasal
spray that reverses overdos-
es from opioids, which are
heroin and painkiller drugs
derived from opium.
Narcan (naloxone hydro-
chloride) has been available
in injection form to para-
medics and hospital emer-
gency room doctors for
many years, and has also
become available in a nasal
spray.
Quincy is the first police
department in the United
States to require officers on
patrol to carry nasal Nar-
can, which reverses an
overdose by blocking the
narcotic’s ability to attach
to brain cells.
About 200 Quincy offic-
ers have been trained to use
the antidote and two doses
are carried in every police
cruiser.
Since the pilot program
began in 2010, Quincy po-
lice have applied Narcan
179 times and reversed
overdoses 170 times.
Saline, AR Goes
Online
Carrie Marrow of Garland
County spends a lot of time
online. She isn’t freshening
her Facebook page; she is
searching out the history of
real estate for a title compa-
ny.
Recently, Marrow was at
the Saline County Court-
house, but she could just
have easily been working at
home.
“I’m having to go back 30
years, and with some prop-
erties, those records are not
all online yet,” she said.
“But I do a lot of this work
at home, now that Saline
County has gone online.”
She said the title company
requires her to check coun-
ty records of a property for
the past 10 years.
“We look to see if there
are any liens or judgements
against the property, and
that all the mortgages are
paid,” Marrow said. “We
want to make sure the buy-
ers have a clean title on the
property.”
Saline County residents,
title companies like the one
in Little Rock that employs
Marrow or anyone with a
computer can access a
storehouse of official rec-
ords from their computers
with a new One-Stop-Shop
page that went online Aug.
8.
Six elected Saline County
officials announced the
launching of the new Inter-
net site,
www.salinerecords.com,
which gives free, open ac-
cess to the county’s public
records.
Crazy Lawsuit
Kara Walton of Claymont,
Delaware successfully sued
the owner of a night club in
a neighboring city when
she fell from the bathroom
window to the floor and
knocked out her two front
teeth.
This occurred while Ms
Walton was trying to sneak
through the window in the
ladies room to avoid paying
the $3.50 cover charge.
She was awarded $12,000
and dental expenses.

Guarding
Against Abuse
Of Personal
Data In The
Public Domain
(Hong Kong)
by Allan Chiang, HK privacy com-
missioner
Many people believe per-
sonal data collected from
the public domain - such
as the companies, land and
vehicles registers, the gov-
ernment gazette, and even
the internet - is open to
unrestricted use. This view
is incorrect.
Personal data, whether
publicly available or not, is
protected under the Person-
al Data (Privacy) Ordi-
nance. Imagine the conse-
quences if the opposite
were true. Data users may
get around the law by de-
liberately publicising the
data in the public domain,
and the improper use of
personal data that was
leaked to the public domain
would be legitimised.
Technology has exacer-
bated the risks of a loss of
privacy. Advances in the
aggregation, matching and
further processing of per-
sonal data in the public do-
main means such data min-
ing is now conducted with
phenomenal ease and effi-
ciency. For those who
know how, it is easy to pro-
file an individual and gen-
erate new uses of the data
beyond the purposes for
which they were initially
collected.
Admittedly, such profiling
could generate economic
and societal benefits. But at
the same time, it poses
grave privacy risks.
One example of these
risks is the use of personal
data to market goods and
services. In a report last
year, the US retail giant
Target was found to have
analysed the purchasing
habits of its customers so
closely that it was able to
guess reliably whether a
female customer was preg-
nant and by how many
months. In one case, the
father of a teenage girl
found out that she was
three months pregnant after
his suspicions were raised
due to the increased amount
of pregnancy-related ad-
verts from Target arriving
in the mail. The fact Target
had "data-mined" its way
into a customer's womb is
clearly intrusive.
It is conceivable that
many marketers are using
innovative analytics to en-
hance marketing effective-
ness based on data supplied
by the customer and data in
the public domain. The
problem is not so much re-
lated to the nature and
source of the data but, ra-
ther, to the way the data is
combined, further pro-
cessed and used.
Another example is the
compilation of bankruptcy
and litigation records of
individuals by data brokers,
based on the judiciary's dai-
ly cause lists and cause
books as well as the bank-
ruptcy order notices in the
government gazette. This is
the subject of our recent
investigation into a
smartphone application
which enabled subscribers
to search such records by
name and view the com-
bined data in one go. The
data subjects concerned
could be harmed unknow-
ingly if the data is used, for
example, for checking their
employability or creditwor-
thiness.
First, as different people
can share the same name or
have similar names, it is
problematic to ascribe the
data to a target individual
according to his name. Sec-
ond, a person involved in
litigation could be perfectly
innocent but the database
did not as a rule include the
court's decision in his fa-
vour.
Third, bankruptcy is nor-
mally discharged after four
to eight years, while the
Ordinance prevents unau-
thorised disclosure of a pre-
vious minor conviction,
provided the offender has
not been reconvicted for
three years.
Therefore, the indefinite
retention and use of the
bankruptcy and litigation
data would unduly stigma-
tise an individual and bar
him or her from leading a
life free from encumbranc-
es.
A further example is the
unfettered access to the
companies, land and vehi-
cles registers, as well as
other public information
sources, thus putting at risk
the sensitive data therein,
such as Hong Kong identity
card numbers, full residen-
tial addresses and signa-
tures. If malicious people
were to exploit the data,
there would be a risk of fi-
nancial loss, identity theft
and personal safety
(through stalking and sur-
veillance).
For this reason, we recent-
ly secured the co-operation
of a website operator to
cease operating an index
whereby names of individ-
uals and their identity card
numbers found in the pub-
lic domain were listed to-
gether to enable a search by
either name or number.
Such aggregation and pro-
cessing of sensitive person-
al data were clearly inap-
propriate.
This website operation
must be distinguished from
that of a search engine,
which acts purely as an in-
termediary in providing
content data. Without per-
forming value-added opera-
tions on the personal data it
processes, aggravation of
privacy risks does not come
into question.
A use-limitation principle
in the ordinance provides
that personal data should be
used only for the purposes
for which it was collected
or a directly related pur-
pose, unless exempted for
activities such as law en-
forcement, professional due
diligence, and publishing or
broadcasting of the data as
news and in the public in-
terest.
The application of this
principle depends on the
original purpose of collect-
ing and making public the
data in question. In the case
of public registers, they are
normally set up by statutes.
Ideally, the purpose of a
public register should be
stated as specifically as
practicable in the enabling
legislation. If not, it could
be implied. Very often, the
purpose and limitations of
use of information in the
public domain have been
spelled out.
Having ascertained the
original purpose of making
the personal data publicly
available, the question of
whether the reuse of such
data is for the same purpose
or a directly related purpose
can be assessed on a case-
by-case basis.
We need to explore the
specific context in which
the data was collected and
the reasonable expectations
of the data subjects as to
the further use made of the
data based on that context.
The test here is whether a
reasonable person in the
data subject's situation
would find the reuse of the
data unexpected, inappro-
priate or otherwise objec-
tionable.
The Truth About
Hong Kong
Record Searches
By Faheem Ebrahim
If anyone tells you that
searches in Hong Kong
cannot be done, I urge you
to check again.
It’s an accommodating,
open system, and with the
right explanation of your
intentions, the team at the
district court will happily
assist with your needs.
Allan Chiang Yam-wang, Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data

Adultery
Website To
Launch In
Hong Kong
“Life is short. Have an
affair,” proclaims contro-
versial dating website Ash-
ley Madison. Married peo-
ple sign up to meet each
other for affairs and
“discreet encounters”
through the website, which
with 20 million members
says it is the world’s largest
dating platform for cheat-
ing husbands and wives.
The dating agency launch-
es in Hong Kong at the end
of the month, and is ex-
pected to be greeted with
howls of protest from
church leaders, family
groups and moral guardi-
ans. Hong Kong’s politi-
cians are unlikely to jump
into the fray, unless they
are themselves squeaky
clean and monogamous.
Not surprisingly, the web-
site has already sparked a
media furore throughout
America and Europe, with
coverage on CNN and Fox
News and in print media
such as Time Magazine,
The Wall Street Journal and
The New York Times.
Ashley Madison says it
tries to make women feel
comfortable about having
affairs. They even aim for
the moral high ground,
claiming most online dating
sites use half-naked women
to lure new users, while
they portray a “girls’ night
out feeling” to attract mar-
ried women. To make af-
fairs more attractive to
women, founder and CEO
Noel Biderman, who styles
himself “The King of Infi-
delity,” says he named the
website using the two most
popular female baby names
in 2002. He says the web-
site is upfront about its pur-
pose: connecting married
people who want to stray
with no strings attached,
and with no “sloppy end-
ings.”
Before setting up Ashley
Madison in 2002, Biderman
worked as a sports agent
who discovered he had a
talent for helping profes-
sional athletes juggle their
wives and mistresses, real-
ising that marital deceit was
rife. After finding that 30
per cent of online dating
members were already mar-
ried, he saw a business op-
portunity of offering inter-
net dating for cheats. Based
in Canada, the site has ex-
panded to 28 other coun-
tries, recently finding fertile
ground in Japan with a mil-
lion sign-ups in the first
two months.
Biderman has done his
homework, citing the 2011
census which said there
were 20,000 divorces filed
that year – a divorce rate 10
times higher than it was 30
years ago. Currently, the
local ratio of men to wom-
en aged between 25 and 54
is 88-100, providing male
Hong Kong members with
a larger pool of women to
cheat with. However, being
a female-centred website,
Ashley Madison claims it
can provide Hong Kong
women with a platform to
pursue their own extra-
marital affairs.
Let’s hope they don’t
meet their own husband on
the site.
Whistling Loudly
Close To A
Person Is Form
Of Assault In
Hong Kong
Whistling loudly at police
officers is a form of assault
because it involves the im-
pact of sound energy, the
Eastern Court was told.
Prosecutor Jonathan Man
Tak-ho said whistling con-
stituted assault even if there
was no physical contact
because people should be
protected from any form of
physical molestation.
Man was speaking during
the trial of construction
worker Ki Chun-kei, 50,
who has pleaded not guilty
to five charges of assaulting
five auxiliary police offic-
ers by whistling at them
through his fingers during
the annual July 1 protest
march this year.
Man referred to a 2003
precedent in which protest-
er Sunny Leung Chun-wai
was found guilty of assault
and jailed for two months
for shouting through a
loudhailer into a police of-
ficer's ears.
Sound can become an un-
lawful use of force if it is
used intentionally or reck-
lessly without the implied
consent of victims, Man
said. "No matter [whether]
it is a loudhailer, a whistle
or a human vocal cord, it
can emit sound energy, and
under some circumstances
constitutes assault."
Such whistling is different
from normal, everyday
whistling, he said.
"[Ki] used great force and
high frequency. He leaned
forward and whistled at
close range."
This was an exception to
the concept of implied con-
sent, whereby people com-
mit no crime if they acci-
dently touch others in a
busy place, he said.
The alleged victims gave
evidence, saying the whis-
tling was sharp and loud,
and that Ki had targeted
them.
Ki said he had not planned
to join the protest march.
He simply followed the
crowd when the road in
front of Sogo department
store, which he wanted to
cross, was closed. He de-
nied being drunk at the
time.
Man asked the court not to
give any weight to Ki's
claim that he was not aware
the police officers were
around. Man said evidence
showed that the officers
were wearing uniforms, Ki
had eye contact with the
officers and had whistled
close to them.
He pointed out that one
officer said the whistling
caused a ringing in his ear,
leaving him unable to hear
clearly for two to three sec-
onds. Another officer called
the sound deafening.
Lawyer Pauline Leung Po
-lam, for Ki, said whistling
itself was not a crime. "It
was not a hostile attack …
He might have been affect-
ed by the heightened mood
of other marchers," she
said.
While the court heard Ki
had whistled about 45cm to
60cm from the officers,
Leung said the distance was
not "too close".
Ki Chun-kei

Sales Clerk Fired
For Sharing A
Picture of His
Paycheck On
Instagram
Social media have opened
all sorts of avenues for get-
ting in trouble at work,
from oversharing work-
place gossip on Twitter to
old Facebook photos show-
ing bosses parts of your
past not covered on your
resume. But here’s a rela-
tively new one: Showing
the world what your
paycheck looks like.
That’s what Wade Groom,
a sales clerk at fashion
house Lacoste’s main store
in Manhattan, did, earning
a swift trip to the unem-
ployment office.
Groom snapped an image
of his paycheck a few
weeks ago and posted it to
Instagram with the mes-
sage: “Ever since I was a
kid I’ve thought it was
completely insane that we
have to work all our lives. I
still feel that way. Especial-
ly when it’s only enough to
live in a third world apart-
ment…”
After a few weeks of
bumping around the medi-
asphere, the image eventu-
ally became know to La-
coste managers, who told
Groom that the posting vio-
lated the confidentiality
agreement he signed before
going to work for Lacoste.
And don’t let the door
whap your butt on the way
out.
Groom told Gothamist
that he really didn’t intend
to complain about his sala-
ry — $15/hour, plus a 3%
commission on record sales
numbers — as much as
make a philosophical state-
ment about the old grind.
And he sure didn’t expect it
to go semi-viral. “I as-
sumed that people would
understand that I’m just
expressing my frustration
through my private Insta-
gram account,” he told the
blog. “Had I know it would
have gotten out like this, I
never would have done it. ”
Judge Throws
Out Lawsuit
Against
“Voyeur” Photog
This just in: photo-
graphing people in their
homes through their win-
dows with a telephoto lens
is protected by the First
Amendment. A judge has
dismissed the lawsuit
against Arne Svenson, the
photographer who snapped
pictures of the residents of
an upscale NYC apartment
building without their
knowing.
“An artist may create and
sell a work of art that re-
sembles an individual with-
out his or her written con-
sent,” Judge Eileen Rakow-
er writes in her decision.
Photographer Arne Sven-
son lives on the second
floor of an apartment build-
ing in the Tribeca neighbor-
hood of New York City.
For his project “The Neigh-
bors,” he pointed his cam-
era at a luxury apartment
building across the street
and secretly photographed
its inhabitants through open
windows.
Those photographs are
now being sold for thou-
sands of dollars at a gallery
in NYC, but it turns out the
subjects aren’t very happy
with having their images
stealthily snapped and sold.
The New York Post re-
ports that a number of the
residents are “furious” over
Svenson’s new photo ex-
hibit at the Julie Saul Gal-
lery, and the fact that the
images show private mo-
ments that include cleaning
(while bent over), taking
naps, and kids resting with
teddy bears:
Clifford Finn, one of the
residents of the luxury
apartment (where
penthouses cost upwards of
$6 million), is quoted by
the paper as saying, “A
grown man should not be
able to photograph kids in
their rooms with a telepho-
to lens. You can argue ar-
tistic license all you want,
but that’s really the issue
here. I’m sorry, but I’m re-
ally bothered by this.”
Other residents in the
building are considering
legal action against the
photographer.
In a statement for the pro-
ject, the 60-year-old Sven-
son says his work is similar
to birdwatching:
"For my subjects there is
no question of privacy; they
are performing behind a
transparent scrim on a stage
of their own creation with
the curtain raised high. The
Neighbors don’t know they
are being photographed; I
carefully shoot from the
shadows of my home into
theirs. I am not unlike the
birder, quietly waiting for
hours, watching for the
flutter of a hand or the
movement of a curtain as
an indication that there is
life within."

Thai Villagers
Arrest A Google
Street View
Driver, Thought
He Was A Spy
Photog
On your own mental list
of “most perilous jobs,”
chances are Google Street
View driver doesn’t make it
very close to the top. But
one of Google’s own
wound up in a strange situ-
ation recently when a group
of villagers in Thailand put
him under citizen’s arrest,
believing him to be a spy
for a government dam pro-
ject they oppose.
The incident took place in
the Song district of Thai-
land in the village of Ban
Sa-iap when about 20 con-
cerned villagers blocked
Google employee Deeprom
Phongphon’s way and
placed him under citizen’s
arrest. The villagers there
have long opposed a dam
project, and thought that he
was taking spy photos for
the project using the con-
venient disguise of a
Google Street View car.
According to The Guardi-
an, the villagers took the
driver to a local office to
quiz him, after which they
took him to a temple where
he was asked to swear on a
statue of Buddha that he
wasn’t working for the dam
project.
Since the incident took
place, the village has re-
leased a statement apolo-
gizing to the employee,
Google and the people of
Thailand for the embarrass-
ing mistake, explaining that
many repeated cases had
“convinced the villagers to
believe someone was trying
to survey the area in dis-
guise.”
For its part, Google didn’t
see the incident as a very
big deal. In a statement re-
leased by Google spokes-
man Taj Meadows, the
company explained that
when “embarking on new
projects, we sometimes en-
counter unexpected chal-
lenges, and Street View has
been no exception.”
New Michigan
Law Makes
Shoplifting A
Crime That
Results In Prison
Time
In Michigan, the newly
passed Organized Retail
Crime Act, sponsored by
Genesee County State Rep.
Joseph Graves, has moved
shoplifting from being con-
sidered a misdemeanor to
being seen as a felony, that
would be punishable by up
to five years in prison.
In particular, the law tar-
gets those who steal goods
with the express intent of
reselling them.
According to Grandville
Police Department Sgt. De-
tective Renee Veldman, the
statute has been a welcome
addition to the tools used
by law enforcement.
The Michigan Retailers As-
sociation spearheaded get-
ting the law passed in 2012
in order to fill a gap that
existed between the petty
thefts of single items and
the more sophisticated
criminals who are looking
to make a profit, according
to William Hallan, vice
president for governmental
affairs and general counsel.
Hallan, is on the Organized
Retail Crime Advisory
Board, which has been
tasked by Gov. Rick
Snyder to monitor the ef-
fectiveness of the new law
over time. He warned that
organized criminals often
become more aggressive
and would be even more
willing to turn to violence
Top Global Risks
Underscore
Business
Concerns
Two separate studies from
Accenture and Aon Risk
Solutions have found that
organizational risk manag-
ers worldwide are closely
aligned when it comes to
risks they are most con-
cerned about.
According to the prelimi-
nary results of Accenture's
Global Risk Management
Research study, which
asked executives from 446
organizations across eight
industries what they see as
the biggest external risks
over the next two years, 62
percent cited legal risks,
followed by business risks -
- 52 percent -- and regula-
tory requirements -- 49 per-
cent.
Meanwhile, Aon's Global
Risk Management Survey
of 1,415 respondents from
70 nations and a wide range
of industry sectors found
economic slowdown and
slow recovery to be the top
concern. Regulatory/
legislative changes was
second highest, followed by
increasing competition.
Robin's
Rumination
By Robin Watkins
Have you ever googled
"health tips"? If not, I can
tell you that the search
identifies over 759,000,000
sites.
Unfortunately, searching
healthy lifestyle infor-
mation will not make you
healthier.
Who knows how many of
those sites have bogus in-
formation?
Searching for "in-court
research" (over
490,000,000 results) pre-
sents a similar problem.
How do you know who to
trust with your applicants'
personal information?
Robin Watkins is Director
of Client Services at Coun-
ty House Research.

Florida Sheriff's
Office Uses
Appliance To
Better Search
Databases
For Crime
Information
The Orange County, Fla.,
Sheriff’s Office is five
months into a unique pro-
ject using the Google
Search Appliance to locate
and extract criminal justice
information from three dif-
ferent internal databases,
including the agency’s data
warehouse.
Sheriff’s Office officials
say they may be the first
law enforcement agency to
use the Google search hard-
ware this way. The tool is
being used primarily to
search relational databases,
but it also can crawl most
standard file systems and
social media feeds. For ex-
ample, the Sheriff’s Office
has tested it successfully
with Twitter and RSS
feeds.
Hal Trask, the Sheriff’s IT
solutions delivery manager,
and Sheena Lovette, a
crime analysis supervisor,
discussed the deployment
in an email interview with
Government Technology.
They said several multi-
database searches conduct-
ed with the search appli-
ance have resulted in the
location or arrest of sus-
pects. An armed robbery
suspect was located and
arrested. A homicide sus-
pect was located and ques-
tioned for a neighboring
police department. And a
search query for “kegs” re-
sulted in the identification
and arrest of three suspects
— a search that helped
solve seven to 10 cases of
theft and resale of beer
kegs.
Although the technology
is only being used to search
Orange County Sheriff’s
data, the office intends to
expand the searches. “The
next step in our initiative
will be to begin working on
arrangements with various
local agencies in order to
begin sharing data via [the
search appliance],” wrote
Trask and Lovette.
The system’s Web-based
user interface has been
dubbed CRAIG, for Crimi-
nal Research and Investiga-
tive Gathering application.
The Google Search Appli-
ance hardware sits on the
Sheriff’s network. CRAIG
currently works with inter-
nal databases within the
sheriff’s Tiburon records
management system, in-
cluding the Automated Re-
porting System, Crime
Analysis and Calls for Ser-
vice.
The Sheriff’s Office antic-
ipates no technical difficul-
ty in expanding the search
capability to other jurisdic-
tions. “The only issue that
we may run across is map-
ping each agency’s data
elements to one common
format,” said a Sheriff’s
Office spokesperson. “The
[search appliance] suppos-
edly does have built-in
functionality that should
provide the ability to do
this. We just haven’t gotten
to that phase yet.”
Data shared between law
enforcement agencies
would be transferred using
CJNET, a secure private
network provided by the
Florida Department of Law
Enforcement.
The Sheriff’s Office tech-
nical team created the new
system quickly, said Trask
and Lovette. “Our program-
mers were able to produce
a useful working prototype
of CRAIG in approximate-
ly 30 days without ever
having been exposed to the
Google technology API.
The learning curve was
fairly minimal.”
However, they added, the
project will need to contin-
ually adapt to changes in
technology, system availa-
bility, the evolution of
crime patterns, human in-
teraction and even linguis-
tic changes. “As we move
forward toward a more fed-
erated search, searching
across other agencies, it
will be interesting to see if
the challenges are more
technical related or people
related.”
What Is
A Search
Appliance?
A search appliance is usu-
ally made up of several
components. These include
a gathering component, a
standardizing component, a
data storage area, a search
component, a user interface
component, and a manage-
ment interface component:
[3]
The gathering component
is usually a web crawler or
file crawler that goes out on
a network or the Internet
and gathers files and data
from specified locations.
This might include SMB
shared directories, NFS
shared directories, data-
bases, and web pages. The
crawler might either copy
files to the search appli-
ance, or only copy the
metadata about the file.
A standardizing compo-
nent takes the data from the
gathering component and
transposes it into a stand-
ardized format for storage
in the data storage compo-
nent. It then places it in the
data storage area.
The data storage compo-
nent holds metadata about
the files and might also
contain copies of the actual
file or data as well as the
metadata about the file.
The search component
searches through the stored
metadata from the files and
provides the information to
the search interface in the
form of query results. It
also can provide links to
the copies of the files
stored on the search appli-
ance, or it can provide links
to the original files in the
source locations.
The search interface is the
component where users
compose their search que-
ries. It provides instructions
to the search component
and displays query results
to the user.
The management interface
lets administrators manage
user accounts, permissions,
adding and deleting search
indexes, crawl job schedul-
ing, and other relevant
functions.

What Keeps
CEOs Up At
Night?
The Lloyd’s Risk Index
provides a good view of
global risk from the per-
spective of corporate lead-
ers. This year’s worldwide
survey comprised 588 C-
Suite and board level exec-
utives from companies of
various sizes.
The survey asked about 50
risks across five categories:
business and strategic risk;
economic, regulatory, and
market risk; political,
crime, and security risk;
environmental and health
risk; and natural hazard
risks.
Specifically, the survey
asked respondents, "How
prepared are you to manage
these risks?" and then in-
structed them to prioritize
the risks.
When asked the question
"Are you better prepared to
manage business risks than
two years ago?," just 45
percent of respondents said
their organization is more
prepared now than in 2011,
whereas 70 percent of re-
spondents in 2011 indicated
they were more prepared
than in 2009.
The survey also identified
"a clear divide" of risk
management between larg-
er and smaller enterprises,
as well as enterprises that
operate in established ver-
sus emerging economies.
Additionally, larger com-
panies in faster growing
markets are identifying the
increased need to prioritize
business risks and their rel-
ative lack of preparedness
to deal with them.
Larger companies are in-
vesting in more compre-
hensive risk transfer
(insurance) and risk man-
agement (mitigation)
measures.
Notably, cyber crime is an
increasingly serious con-
cern, as are regulatory mat-
ters.
Eight Warning
Signs That
Employers
Should
Reconsider Their
Background
Screening
Providers
By Tom Ahearn
Since background checks
are a crucial part of the hir-
ing process in today’s busi-
ness world, leading payroll
and HR solutions provider
Paycor® has teamed up
with Attorney Lester
Rosen, Founder and CEO
of Employment Screening
Resources® (ESR), for the
whitepaper ‘8 Warning
Signs You Should Recon-
sider Your Background
Screening Provider.’
The link to download the
complimentary whitepaper
is available on the Paycor
website at http://
www.paycor.com/
download-background-
screening-whitepaper.
In the whitepaper, Rosen
– author of ‘The Safe Hir-
ing Manual,’ the first com-
prehensive guide to em-
ployment screening – em-
phasizes how background
checks conducted on poten-
tial new hires need to be
done legally and accurately
by professional and accred-
ited screening firms and not
“data-vendors” that create
more problems for employ-
ers than they solve.
The whitepaper covers
these eight warning signs
that indicate an employer
should take a closer look at
their background screening
provider:
1. DOES THE BACK-
GROUND SCREENING
FIRM PROMOTE
“INSTANT BACK-
GROUND CHECKS”?
2. DO THEY CLAIM TO
HAVE A BETTER DATA-
BASE?
3. DO THEY CLAIM DI-
RECT CONNECTIONS
WITH NUMEROUS
COUNTY COURTS?
4. DO THEY USE
“OFFSHORE” FACILI-
TIES/WORKERS?
5. HAVE THEY BEEN
ACCREDITED BY THE
NATIONAL ASSOCIA-
TION OF PROFESSION-
AL BACKGROUND
SCREENERS (NAPBS®)?
6. DO THEY USE HOME-
BASED OPERATORS?
7. DO THEY FAIL TO
PROVIDE CLIENTS
REGULAR UPDATES ON
LEGAL CHANGES?
8. HAVE THEY FAILED
TO MENTION THE UP-
DATED U.S. EQUAL EM-
PLOYMENT OPPOR-
TUNITY COMMISSION
(EEOC) GUIDANCE ON
USING CRIMINAL REC-
ORDS DURING HIRING?
Still
Multitasking?
Give It A Rest!
by Jay Eidelman
If you are one of the many
people who thinks that mul-
titasking is the way to get
things done, you are mis-
taken.
At least that's the point of
a recent piece by Forbes
contributor Douglas Mer-
rill.
Noting the cost (think tex-
ting and driving) and ineffi-
ciency of multitasking,
Merrill points to biology as
the limiting factor.
Human brains can only
keep about 7 things in short
term memory at any one
time. And if something
doesn't go into short-term
memory, it doesn't get into
long-term memory.
Think that young people
are better at multitasking
than their elders?
Nope, that's also a myth -
at least according to Mer-
rill.
The best course is to focus
on one task exclusively,
taking it to completion or to
a point where it can be
paused, and then moving
on to the next.
Small Town
Takes Unique
Approach To
Fighting
Shoplifting
Police in Rosenberg, Tex-
as, are taking an unusual
approach to addressing the
recent increase in shoplift-
ing in the town.
Part of that approach in-
volves posting the names of
shoplifters on the police
force's Facebook page.
In addition, anyone caught
shoplifting in the town is
arrested instead of simply
being issued a citation.
This new proactive ap-
proach was chosen in re-
sponse to a 55 percent in-
crease in the number of
shoplifting cases in July
alone.
The police force attributes
the increase in shoplifting
to the large number of re-
tailers in the area.
Police also say that it is
more effective to take a
proactive approach to deal-
ing with shoplifting rather
than simply responding to
shoplifting cases after they
have taken place.
India's Rape
Records
India's crime records
have revealed that the
country's commercial capi-
tal, Mumbai witnessed 647
rape and 1,877 molestation
cases in the last three years.
According to the National
Crime Records Bureau,
there were 1,781 incidents
of crime against women in
Mumbai in 2012 which in-
clude 234 rapes, 614 inci-
dents of assault on women
with the intent to outrage
her modesty and 235 inci-
dents of insult to the mod-
esty of women.

How Stop And
Frisk Works In
Chicago
by Mick Dumke
About quarter to eight on
the evening of May 21,
2011, two Chicago police
officers noticed a young
black man they deemed
suspicious near the corner
of Iowa and Pulaski. The
problem, as they saw it,
was that he didn't seem to
be doing anything.
The officers were part of a
unit that roamed high-crime
sections of the city, looking
for signs of trouble before
it boiled over into vio-
lence—as it often did in
that part of West Humboldt
Park, which had been used
as an open-air drug market
for a generation. In their
view, the skinny kid in the
white T-shirt was "loitering
in a high narcotics area
known for narcotic sales,"
as they later wrote in their
arrest report. They decided
to approach him "to con-
duct a field interview."
The question of when po-
lice are allowed to formally
stop and interview citizens
was the central issue in the
recent stop-and-frisk ruling
in New York. After New
York City's practices were
found to be unconstitution-
ally based on racial profil-
ing, some police and politi-
cians there warned that
their city could turn into a
bloody war zone like Chi-
cago. Officials here re-
sponded that crime in Chi-
cago is at the lowest level
in decades, even though our
police happen to comply
with the law.
Unfortunately, sound bites
don't prevent crime, and the
story is more complicated
than either side wanted to
admit. Chicago police, like
their counterparts in New
York and every other big
city, have their own proce-
dures for stopping certain
people in certain communi-
ties and looking for guns,
drugs, gang ties, or any oth-
er signs of criminality. The
policies in Chicago may be
less visibly flawed than
New York's, but they cause
the same tensions between
public safety and personal
liberty.
By law, police need to
have a reason to stop and
interview someone. But not
much of one—all that's re-
quired is "reasonable suspi-
cion" of criminal activity,
which allows for wide dis-
cretion. Police can't say
someone is suspicious just
because he's standing on
the street, but if it's a street
known for drug activity and
he's been out there for two
hours while six buses drove
by, that might be another
story. Cops have even more
latitude in high-crime areas,
where suspicion can be jus-
tified by "nervous, evasive
behavior," according to the
U.S. Supreme Court.
If police suspect the per-
son may be armed or poten-
tially poses a threat, they
may also conduct a protec-
tive pat-down, or frisk. If
they have evidence of a
crime, they're allowed to
conduct a full search and
make an arrest.
Veteran Chicago police
say it's their job to interact
with people and recognize
when they have a good—
and legal—reason to con-
duct a more formal inter-
view. "I could be driving
around, and they give what
I call the fish eye," explains
one police supervisor. "You
know something's up.
That's when you want to
inquire a little more."
He stresses that while po-
lice want to be aggressive,
they're hardly looking for a
reason to frisk people.
"Coppers want to go out
there and catch the bad
guys. It's fun. But you don't
want to mess with legiti-
mate people. It's a waste of
time. And [frisking] can be
disgusting—some people
are dirty."
Chicago police make hun-
dreds of thousands of stops
each year, primarily in Af-
rican-American and His-
panic neighborhoods. In
most cases, they don't find
any evidence of a crime.
But under police depart-
ment rules, officers are re-
quired to keep a record of
every interview or pat
down they conduct that
doesn't yield an arrest.
These so-called "contact
cards" include the address
and phone number of the
person interviewed, as well
as tattoos, gang affiliation,
and a description of the rea-
son for the stop. The infor-
mation goes into a comput-
er database that police use
to track crime trends and
who's hanging out with
whom.
Citing a reason for the
stop is critical. Under New
York's stop-and-frisk poli-
cy, officers are required to
fill out similar forms. The
often sparse reasoning for
thousands of stops over the
last few years—mostly of
black and Latino men—
was at the center of the fed-
eral ruling.
"'Furtive movements' are
an insufficient basis for a
stop or frisk if the officer
cannot articulate anything
more specific about the sus-
picious nature of the move-
ment," Judge Shira A.
Scheindlin wrote in her
opinion. "The same is true
of merely being present in a
'high crime area.'"
On the other hand, if the
person incriminates him-
self, the police don't need
to worry about sticky con-
stitutional issues governing
interviews and searches.
According to police, this
happens in Chicago all the
time—accounting for a ma-
jority of the 40 marijuana-
possession arrests in the
city each day, to cite but
one example.
That was the case at Pu-
laski and Iowa on that
spring evening in 2011, the
officers reported. They said
that as they approached, the
suspect blurted out: "I only
got a few bags of weed in
my shorts." One of the cops
then searched the suspect
and found ten small plastic
bags of suspected cannabis
in his left-front pants pock-
et. Altogether the baggies
weighed less than half an
ounce and were worth an
estimated $66.
Two other officers arrived
at the scene and they placed
the suspect under arrest. It
took more than two hours
to book him at the station.
He was released early the
next morning, and several
weeks later he pleaded
guilty to misdemeanor pos-
session.
Reports of suspects volun-
teering that they're carrying
drugs, or throwing them to
the ground as cops ap-
proach, are so common that
some defense attorneys and
civil libertarians assume it's
a standard way of getting
around questions about the
legality of stops, frisks, and
searches.
"The allegations are, 'I
was minding my business
but because I'm of a certain
race and I'm male and I'm
in a certain neighborhood
with lots of crime, they
stopped me'—they're a lot
of my cases," says Chelsey
Robinson, a defense attor-
ney who works with low-
income defendants for the
Chicago Bar Association.
In court it's the officer's
word against the defend-
ant's. Robinson says that's
why most of her clients just
want to plead guilty and be
done with it—they assume
there's no way they can
win. She urges them to de-
mand a trial and fight the
credibility of the evidence.
"Sometimes the officer's
story just doesn't add up,"
she says, or the prosecutors
decide it's not worth pursu-
ing. In fact, about 90 per-
cent of all misdemeanor
marijuana cases end up get-
ting thrown out.
But Robinson says she's
not convinced there's an
unwritten policy encourag-
ing officers to evade the
law. "I think it's just police
officers zealously trying to
do their job by whatever
means necessary," she says.
Police say officers here
are trained to know they
can only stop someone if
they can explain their rea-
sonable suspicion. Still,
they're also under tremen-
dous pressure to fill out
contact cards and make ar-
rests, especially in high-
crime areas. Some civil lib-
erties advocates believe
that, as in New York, many
stops are made without a
clear or credible reason.
"If you keep pushing the
police to do something
about crime, you get stop
and frisk," says Tracy Sis-
ka, executive director of the
Chicago Justice Project, a
watchdog organization.
"Stopping and frisking eve-
ryone is going to reduce
violence in the short term.
But is that the solution
we're going for as a socie-
ty? It doesn't get at any of
the underlying issues about
education, poverty, and
jobs."

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