Posts Tagged ‘employee background checks’

Bus Driver Causes Fatal Crash in California; Had Criminal Record

Monday, October 6th, 2008

A bus crash on Sunday, which killed 8 and injured 30 people, was allegedly caused by a driver who was under the influence. The bus was on its way to a Northern California casino and carried about 43 passengers.

Police arrested Quintin Watts on Monday as he lay critically injured in his hospital bed. This incident is under investigation and police officers are waiting for results of Watts’ blood tests.

According to a witness, the bus drifted across a two-lane road and the driver over-corrected causing him to lose control. The bus rolled over and into a ditch. Some passengers were thrown out while others were crushed by the rolling bus.

The story is even more horrific.

The bus’ license plates were not valid. The driver has a history of substance abuse as well as a long history of motor vehicle offenses. In fact, he just recently got his license reinstated in January of this year after having it suspended for two years. At this point, the police do not even know who or what company owns the bus involved. While it says “Greyhound” on the side, Greyhound explained that they sold the bus several years ago.

Authorities are investigating Cobbs Bus Services and if they owned the bus. One of the passengers killed, Daniel Cobb, is also being investigated as having possibly owned Cobbs Bus Services. The last operator of the bus is listed as Prayer Apostolic Faith Christian Center of Modesto, which has the same address as the listing for Cobbs Bus Services.

Buses taking tourists to local casinos in California are popular. Unfortunately, it seems whether or not this industry is taking the proper steps to background check employees is seriously in question.

Is this accident and all of the fatalities going to have the impact to make background checks happen?

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You Have Some Explaining to Do, Mr. Mayor.

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

In Jeffersontown, Kentucky, Public Works Director, Joseph McMillan, was fired last week after being arrested for possession of crack cocaine. The arrest prompted the city council to take action and last night they voted unanimously to establish random drug testing for all city employees. The city council is also going to meet later this week to discuss implementing background checks on all employees.

McMillan was hired in January of this year by the Jeffersontown’s mayor, Clay Foreman. The job application for the city does not ask if applicants have ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor. McMillan was already on probation for charges of DUI and criminal mischief when he was hired, which would have been uncovered by a simple, quick background check.

Mayor Foreman has been friends with McMillan for years but claimed he did not know about his criminal record. He noted that McMillan possessed a commercial driver’s license and had experience in his family’s construction business. Foreman said he hired McMillan because his family had done lots of work for the city over the years, dating back to the 1980′s.

It has since been discovered that McMillan has been arrested nine times since 1985. Mayor Foreman fired him last Friday.

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Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late to Run Background Checks

Monday, August 18th, 2008

Jeremy Semprebon, a registered sex offender, was arrested on August 14, 2008 on five counts of “Prohibition from Child Care Services of Persons Convicted of Certain Offenses,” which are all felony charges.

Semprebon was working for a non-profit agency in New Hampshire called AIDS Response Seacoast where he was working as an education coordinator. Police say that he had access to minors at least two times this past spring as part of his job and he failed to let the agency know of his prior conviction; Semprebon was found guilty of aggravated rape against a 5-year old child in 1995.

New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services is now reviewing its contract policies after learning of this incident. Three-fourths of Semprebon’s salary was paid by a grant issued to AIDS Response Seacoast through the DHHS. Because his job description was to educate adults about AIDS and HIV prevention, no background check was required.

Director of Public Health, Dr. Jose Montero, has stated, “We are reviewing the policy and trying to have a fair policy, but the fact that someone has something in their background doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have a job.”

As a result of the Semprebon incident, DHHS is now considering running background checks on applicants to reveal crimes or offenses applicable to the specific positions. Furthermore, AIDS Response Seacoast is now conducting background checks and has made their hiring practices stricter.

Police were able to identity Semprebon as a registered sex offender because of the business card he carried. However, that business card was not approved, nor issued by AIDS Response Seacoast.

Finally, AIDS Response Seacoast’s reputation is now in danger as it has been alleged that the agency discovered Semprebon’s sex offender status last fall, but did not tell its partners. Authorities do not know how many other non-profit agencies Semprebon had contact with, but they do know he worked with the Feminist Health Center in Greenland, New Hampshire.

Thankfully, it does not appear that any harm came to anyone connected with Semprebon. On the other hand, one quick, low cost background check could have saved a non-profit organization from negative publicity and a loss of reputation.

Semprebon’s sex offender status can be found here.

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Sex Offender Arrested While Working a County Fair

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

Ronald McGwin and three managers of Tip Top Shows were arrested on Sunday, August 3, 2008. Tip Top Shows is a company that runs the midways and carnival booths at fairs. The managers who were arrested allegedly hid the identity of McGwin in order to allow him to work the fair.

All employees were to have background checks. When they were completed, three employees showed up with prior sex arrests and were not allowed to work the fair; however, McGwin was not listed among them.

It was only after a customer at the fair found a Florida identification for McGwin and gave it to authorities that suspicions arose. It was discovered that McGwin was a registered sex offender who also has active warrants from Illinois for burglary and disorderly conduct. The identification showed that McGwin lived in Florida, but the sex offender registry shows him as coming from Illinois. It was later proven that the identification was his brother’s and not his.

Apparently, the three managers provided a fake name for McGwin because he was a good employee for them. They are all being charged with obstruction of justice, and authorities in Wisconsin are investigating whether or not they can charge McGwin with failure to register as a sex offender.

Calls to Tip Top Shows went unanswered.

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Bill to Require Camps in Ohio to run Background Checks

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

A new bill in Ohio, Senate Bill 321, calls for criminal background checks on all staff members of camps, FBI checks if the staffer has not lived in Ohio over the past five years and Social Security Number verification on all volunteers.

Up until now, background checks have only been required of day camps, but if this bill passes, all types of camps would be required to run the checks.

The bill stems from an incident last year in which a camp volunteer, Timothy Keil, was caught sexually molesting a child inside a cabin at Perry County Youth Camp. This revealed the loophole wherein the background checks were required for day camps, but not other types of camps.

Keil was convicted and is serving time in prison, for Gross Sexual Imposition. While he professed his innocence in court, another counselor testified finding Keil lying on a bed, caressing a boy who was on top of him. Keil has also been on probation for four years in Pennsylvania due to misdemeanor charges of indecent assault and corruption of a minor.

Helen Jones-Kelley, director of Ohio Department of Job and Family services, said they are working on this issue, “We’re just kind of taking on a more positive, proactive kind of role so that we can get out of there and make sure children are safe.” Her department is teaming up with health inspectors in order to notify camp directors about the required background checks.

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Wal-Mart Tightens Its Gun Sales Policies

Friday, April 18th, 2008

On Monday this week, Wal-Mart announced that it was going to tighten its policies on selling firearms, including running background checks on any employees who will be handling firearms.

Jami Lamontagne, Demand Media Manager at Wal-Mart, provided our staff with a press release that details a 10-point voluntary code between Wal-Mart and the group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The code is called the Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership.

In the press release, JP Suarez, senior vice president and chief compliance officer for Wal-Mart stated, “Wal-Mart currently uses a strong point of sale system that allows us to serve the many hunters and outdoorsmen who’ve made us their retailer of choice, while also ensuring the responsible sale of firearms. This code is a way for us to fine tune the things we’re already doing and further strengthen our standards. We hope other retailers will join us in adopting the code.”

New York City Mayor and co-chair of Mayors against Illegal Guns, Michael Bloomberg stated, “I’ve always believed in leading by example, and Wal-Mart has again demonstrated why it’s a great American company. The Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership makes good sense – it will have no impact on a well-intentioned and law-abiding gun buyer – but will help keep Americans safer.”

The 10 points of the Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership are:

1. Videotaping the Point of Sale for All Firearms Transactions.Participating retailers will videotape the point-of-sale of all firearms transactions and maintain videos for 6 months to deter illegal purchases and monitor employees.
2. Computerized Crime Gun Trace Log and Alert System. Mayors Against Illegal Guns will develop a computerized system that participating retailers will implement over time to log crime gun traces relating to the retailer.
Once the program is in place, if a customer who has a prior trace at that retailer attempts to purchase a firearm, the sale will be electronically flagged. The retailer would have discretion to proceed with the sale or stop the sale.
3. Purchaser Declaration. For sales flagged by the trace alert system, participating retailers will ask purchasers to fill out a declaration indicating that they meet the legal requirement to purchase the firearm.
4. Deterring Fake IDs. Participating retailers will only accept valid federal- or state-issued picture IDs as primary identification. Retailers will utilize additional ID checking mechanisms.
5. Consistent Visible Signage Consistent Visible Signage. Participating retailers will post signage created by the Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership to alert customers of their legal responsibilities at the point-of-sale.
6. Employee Background Checks. Participating retailers will conduct criminal background checks for all employees selling or handling firearms.
7. Employee Responsibility Training. Participating retailers will participate in an employee responsibility training program focused on deterring illegal purchasers. The Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership will create an online training system based on Wal-Mart’s training program.
8. Inventory Checking. Participating retailers will conduct daily and quarterly audits. Guidelines will be based on Wal-Mart’s existing audit procedures.
9. No Sales Without Background Check Results. Participating retailers would prohibit sales based on “default proceeds,” which are permitted by law when the background check has not returned a result within 3 days.
10. Securing Firearms. Participating retailers will maintain firearms kept in customer accessible areas in locked cases or locked to racks.

The press release continued by stating, “A new national poll conducted jointly by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and The Tarrance Group and released last week found that Americans overwhelmingly support measures like those included in the Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership. For example, 91 percent of Americans favor requiring gun stores to do background checks on employees. According to the poll, 93 percent of gun owners said being video taped in a store while purchasing firearms would make no difference to them or would make them more likely to purchase a firearm from that retailer.”

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