So Why Should You Perform a Background Check?
Here at North American Investigations, our private investigators conduct personal background checks for our clients on a daily basis. Whether it’s dealing with a lawsuit or simply needing to find out some information about someone in your life, we provide our clients with background checks for various reasons. Some of which are listed below:
To Keep Your Property Safe
Wouldn’t you want to know if your neighbor or an individual close to you had a criminal history tied to robbery or grand theft auto? With a background check, you can. A background check will help you confirm or disprove your suspicions. And if your hunch should pan out correctly, you can take steps towards protecting yourself.
If you know your neighbor has a criminal record of breaking and entering, the next time you travel out of town, you’ll make sure your windows and doors are properly locked. You’ll also be less likely to hand over your keys to your neighbor to feed the cat or to handle other mundane chores.
Of course, we don’t promote running background checks just to be “another nosy neighbor.” But if you fear for your life, worry something doesn’t add up or fear that there is trouble brewing next door, a background check can either give you important information or put your mind at ease. Otherwise, you could be causing trouble for both you and the person you are running a background check on.
To Protect Your Family
Law enforcement agencies have records of sexual offenders, listing their first and last names, as well as their locations. A quick check will reveal if anyone you are concerned about falls within this group. Additionally, if you want to go the extra step, there are tons of websites online that you can visit yourself to determine who the sex offenders are in your neighborhood. If you find any, be cautious that both you and your children know what they look like so that you can always stay one step ahead.
Granted, you may not want to run background checks on everyone on your street. But you should run checks on the people that your family spends time with. For instance, if your kids are constantly going to play in the yard of a man down the road who seems nice, find out how safe he really is. You don’t want to leave your family around a neighbor who has a known history of physical and sexual abuse.
To Protect Your Pets
Yes pets. Just because injuries or harm come to pets – and not people – doesn’t make it less a crime. Studies show that most killers begin by attacking animals before graduating to humans.
For instance, in 2011, Luka Magnotta posted videos of himself killing a cat. Despite the public outrage, little was done. Seven months later, he drugged, stabbed, hacked and then ate a man, and then posted the video online. If you have a nasty neighbor who is constantly kicking at your pets, flinging objects at them or lashing out at them, perform a background check. You may find that he has a history you do not like. Besides that, these are signs that you are dealing with someone who might possibly be mentally ill or have some sort of mental disorder.
Working with a Private Investigator
If you are going to conduct a background check, do not use Google or any online data service. Criminals have become quite good at hiding their digital footprints, making the best way to conduct a background check working with a PI agency. It’s fairly easy for a criminal to “fake” what you found on the internet regarding them and additionally, they can just as easily hire an online reputation manager to delete the negative information about them online.
We have access to many useful resources. In addition to running criminal background checks, North American Investigations can check possible name changes, social security fraud, and other fraudulent activities. Many times individuals are dating a person and quickly find out (after hiring a private investigator) that they own two different homes – and are living two different lives! If you do discover that you have a criminal on your street, a PI will be in the best position to advise you on how you can protect yourself.
Reasons for Getting a Personal Background Check
So how do you know when to be worried? Knowing what to watch out for can help you spot a possible risk before the danger present itself. There are thousands of reasons why you might consider performing a background check on someone. However, if you have mixed feelings about doing it, the following are few red flags that you should watch out for:
Your personal safety is important. There is no reason to expose yourself to possible risk – not when you can avoid it. Criminals are not kept in jail forever. To fight the current population crisis of prisons, non-violent inmates are now being given shorter sentences which put them back on the streets – whether or not they’ve been fully rehabilitated.
If you have any suspicions about an individual, run a background check. It is important that you know exactly who they are. Your fears may be groundless, but at least you will get the confirmation needed to help you sleep better at night.
