Background Checks

[greymule]

Checking for a record of serious sex offenses (or violent felonies) is one thing, but (from the article) what does KKK membership have to do with protecting youth from predators? The great liberal icon Hugo L. Black belonged to the Klan. So did Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia.

Should umpires be asked whether they ever belonged to the Communist Party? Whether they own a gun or hunt? Whether they favor affirmative action? Whether they eat meat or wear fur? Whether they ever used illegal drugs? Should all umpires have to be adjudged politically correct?

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by greymule

Checking for a record of serious sex offenses (or violent felonies) is one thing, but (from the article) what does KKK membership have to do with protecting youth from predators? The great liberal icon Hugo L. Black belonged to the Klan. So did Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia.

Should umpires be asked whether they ever belonged to the Communist Party? Whether they own a gun or hunt? Whether they favor affirmative action? Whether they eat meat or wear fur? Whether they ever used illegal drugs? Should all umpires have to be adjudged politically correct?

?

[kylejt]

They're looking for people who can be targeted for blackmail.

If a "bad guy" finds something out about you that you didn't want to be made public, you might do something that you normally wouldn't to keep it a secret.

[johnnyg08]

I'm just wondering how deviant a guy can be working in "A" with 35 some players and probably a few hundred fans in the stands. While I don't condone any type of illegal behavior...sounds like a money making scheme to me...it's not necessary.

[greymule]

I think this New York City detective should be placed on the "do not assign" list:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01....prostitution/

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

I'm just wondering how deviant a guy can be working in "A" with 35 some players and probably a few hundred fans in the stands. While I don't condone any type of illegal behavior...sounds like a money making scheme to me...it's not necessary.

And how does a teacher, in front of 30 students and within a short distance of a dozen administrators act in a deviant manner?

Or, how about the basketball coach in Lynwood, Washington, or the softball coach in Spokane, or the soccer coach in Florida...they all ply their trade in front of multiple players, parents and fans.

They find a way, outside of the arena, to have contact with someone with whom they have built a trust due to their position and contact with them. Be it in a parking lot, locker room, coaches home, player's home...or in one case in Spokane, on a public sidewalk...the truly deviant find a way.

Background checks won't completely put an end to a deviant's behavior, but they will help limit his contact with potential victims and alert the public to the potential danger.

[MichaelVA2000]

Originally Posted by GarthB

Background checks won't completely put an end to a deviant's behavior, but it will help limit his contact with potential victims and alert the public to the potential danger.

Excellent point.

[Rags 11]

Garth B & mbyron have hit the nail on the head.

Based on being invloved in law enforcement for the last eighteen years, and officiating for the last seven (though this is my first post! ), background checks are a "necessary evil" and first defense for many professions and avocations.

I'd rather be discussing the merits of patent leather!

AR

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by greymule

Should umpires be asked whether they ever belonged to the Communist Party? Whether they own a gun or hunt? Whether they favor affirmative action? Whether they eat meat or wear fur? Whether they ever used illegal drugs? Should all umpires have to be adjudged politically correct?

I think you're confusing a criminal background check with a detailed investigation of a person's past. The former is under discussion here, and it involves checking a person's fingerprints and other ID info against a national database of convicted felons, especially sex offenders. No investigation of party affiliations or organization membership is involved -- that would be too time consuming, and there's no law enforcement database of that info.