Background investigation release form

[chuck chopper]

With a recent package I received in the mail, there is a background release form. I have to assume this is a national directive & not regional.
Are you assigners getting flack from your Umps. What have you been told to do by National or Regional brass with the Umps that don't want to sign it.

[greymule]

What governing authority is this?

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by chuck chopper

With a recent package I received in the mail, there is a background release form. I have to assume this is a national directive & not regional.
Are you assigners getting flack from your Umps. What have you been told to do by National or Regional brass with the Umps that don't want to sign it.

I've made my opinion known before, the minute ASA asks me for this is the minute I leave ASA.

[bigsig]

You guys don't think it's a good idea to check the backgrounds of adults involved with children?

Our State requires fingerprint and background checks for all school officials. A HS basketball official in a neighboring county was just arrested for following a player around the school before the game asking to see her feet!

I think a background check to keep people like that out of the ASA is a small price for me to pay and a great idea. It's unfortunately a sign of the times.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by bigsig

You guys don't think it's a good idea to check the backgrounds of adults involved with children?

That isn't what I said, but now that you asked.

• BI, especially the low-level which are conducted, discover very little. It will only catch those with a standing criminal background record.
• An umpire should not be involved with the players at any point. They are there to officiate a softball game, not to interact with a child.

Our State requires fingerprint and background checks for all school officials. A HS basketball official in a neighboring county was just arrested for following a player around the school before the game asking to see her feet!

School organizations are not the same. Their activities are conducted with the school complete liable in loco parentis. ASA is not, nor should they want to be. Odds are your basketball official would have done whatever it was he was doing. For that matter, without the full story, I don't know if he did anything illegal.

I think a background check to keep people like that out of the ASA is a small price for me to pay and a great idea. It's unfortunately a sign of the times.

I disagree. Having worked in the high-value secure transportation business and an auditor and USN high-level communications prior to that, I have constantly witnessed people who you think should never get passed a poly or BI are standing next to you, doing a job which involves high security and trust.

Keeping them out of ASA or any other organization will not stop these type of people. If a game official, and you will find one example almost anywhere in the country (out of how many sports officials?), commits illegal acts toward a minor, my question is where is that minor's team, coaches, parents, friends, league administrators and directors? There are many volunteer parents that help with the teams. Will all of them be investigated? After all, do they not come in constant contact with children other than their own and carry the weight of authority?

Let's step to the other side of the issue. Who determines what is inappropriate and what is not? Think about it. In a certain part of the country, a businessman/woman responds to a certain act, "Come on, honey, you can do better then that" it is completely acceptable, and in some societal communities, expected! Bring that same scenario to a big-city, up-tight suburban community and those individuals are terminated, shunned by former "friends" and can completely lose their lifestyle just because they were acting in a manner which is considered not only acceptable, but friendly.

Again, under who's societal laws will the line be drawn? Who makes the determination of who is good and who is bad? Hasn't this country learned from Sen. Joe McCarthy that people cannot be trusted to be honorable, even-handed and fair when it comes to highly sensitive and devisive issues?

And once this information is collected, who will police it's use? Do you have enough faith in people, especially those who volunteer for such a task, that it will held in strict confidence and not used beyond a predescribed limit? If you do, let's talk about Arlen Specter's (didn't he work with Sen. McCarthy?) magic bullet theory, RICO laws only applying to racketeering and organized crime, the CIA not running black ops out of Laos and Cambodia and a bridge in Brooklyn.

Cynical? Yep, things like this and the resulting abuse of percieved authority have caused me to be that way

IMO, I believe this is another Chicken Little reaction that is nothing more than a non-productive, feel-good invasion and insinuation of our community.

That said, I have changed my strategy. If this is ever presented, instead of walking away, I will fight this however I may. I'm sure there will be a loss of friendship and trust, but I just don't believe in living our lives in such a manner to quell the fears of others who choose to lack the ability to take responsibility for their charge.

JMHO,

Mike

[greymule]

A HS basketball official in a neighboring county was just arrested for following a player around the school before the game asking to see her feet!

Weird behavior, no doubt some sort of sexual disorientation. The girl may very well have been lucky to escape danger. Who knows? But what did they charge this official with?

Between games last year, a girl about 10 years old tried to retrieve some softballs that had been caught in tangled netting in the backstop. As I stood near the plate, I watched her climb about 12 feet up, when she realized she wouldn't be able to reach the balls, and tried to descend. However, partly because she was wearing "heelys," she found going down harder than going up and became a little anxious. So I got under her, directed her down, and sort of caught her as she let go and fell a little ways. Amazingly, I was not arrested (but the thought definitely crossed my mind).

I wish I had an answer to background checks. Here in NJ, Megan Kanka was raped and murdered by a convicted child molester whom the state had housed in a suburban neighborhood full of kids—without informing anybody. So New Jersey passed laws to make people feel good and make politicians look tough on perverts. The result has been that a few guys are on a list, the vast majority of dangerous pedophiles are not on it, and a college student who "streaked" past the homecoming bonfire technically violated the new law (there were children under 10 present or something) and has been branded a "sex offender" for life. So when he graduates and applies for that nice job, he comes up on the list.

Princeton University used to have its co-ed "nude olympics" every year at the first snowfall. Maybe what stopped it was fear of being labeled a sex offender.

In the early 1950s, we discovered that Communist spies working on the atom bomb had supplied the Soviet Union with key information. Nobody had done a background check. What happened as a result is well known.

If ASA or NCAA told me I had to submit to a background check before I could umpire another youth game, I'd resist and try to get other officials to do the same, but in the end, neither I nor I suspect many other officials can afford to walk away.

[CLBuffalo]

A few years ago I helped form a youth softball league. I was the group’s UIC. As part of the process all the people involved submitted to a background check by a state agency. Only one designated person in the group received the information. By law it could not be shared with anyone else. There was something in my background that turned the person’s head but it was not a cause for dismissing me from the group. To this day I have no idea what it was but I do know that whatever it was it was not sex related. After this I have never submitted to this process again and never will.

I certainly understand background checks for certain officers of a group and for those who are entrusted with the safety and well being of youth players. As an umpire or as a UIC only, I would never be in that position except to apply and enforce safety rules. My credit history, work history, school history, etc. have absolutely nothing to do with my umpiring and wouldn’t reveal any kind of predisposition to any kind of sexual aberration. Background checks for a previous pedophile would at best prevent a repeat offense. Only due diligence can prevent a new offense.

I was a youngster at the time of Senator McCarthy. I remember almost everyone thinking that there was at least one communist in every classroom, in every store, in every family, in every public gathering, etc. I was even led to believe that President Eisenhower was possibly a communist. Those feelings lasted well after Senator McCarthy left the senate.

If a school or organization required a background check of umpires I would not fight it. I just wouldn’t umpire for them. Fighting that kind of thinking and mind set is a lost cause. The supplemental income I get from umpiring would be missed but not worth the sacrifice.

There are and have been secure societies: Cuba, Russia, Germany. Would anyone umpire in them?

"He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither" - Benjamin Franklin

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

...snip... That said, I have changed my strategy. If this is ever presented, instead of walking away, I will fight this however I may.
Mike

This is the part of this discussion I like best. Problems are not solved by leaving/ignoring them.
Before I get off on a rant about privacy, I'll close.

[Mountaineer]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

I've made my opinion known before, the minute ASA asks me for this is the minute I leave ASA.

WOW! That surprises me Mike. I've never read any of your posts on this issue and I'd be curious to know your reasoning. Do you think it's a violation of privacy? Do you think it's a small price to pay to keep a preditor from having access to kids? I may not like it - I submit to a background check every year for Little League - but I'd do it for HS or ASA.

[chuck chopper]

When I asked this question last week, frankly I was surprised that no one else was "pieved" enough to already starta thread. Looks like many of us don't like the invasion, and where does the info ultimately go ?. Others are concerned about the kids. I think it stinks of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.
.
My 2nd question is what has Regional or National told you assigners to do with Umps that won't agree to a background investigation. Most assigners don't have enough Umps to cover all the games as it is.

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by chuck chopper

When I asked this question last week, frankly I was surprised that no one else was "pieved" enough to already starta thread. Looks like many of us don't like the invasion, and where does the info ultimately go ?. Others are concerned about the kids. I think it stinks of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.
.
My 2nd question is what has Regional or National told you assigners to do with Umps that won't agree to a background investigation. Most assigners don't have enough Umps to cover all the games as it is.

We still want to know which governing body, as greymule asked.

[greymule]

I think it stinks of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.

It sure does. They'd start with convicted child molesters, but how long would it be before an umpire who is discovered to be a member of the National Rifle Association, or who writes a letter to the local newspaper in support of the Second Amendment, is put on the "no-ump" list? Some airhead administrator will cite his school's "zero tolerance" policy for guns, impressionable kids, etc.

My 9-12 school in Connecticut actually had a shooting team (if anybody in 2007 America can imagine that). But strangely, no teachers, administrators, students, townspeople, or anyone else was ever shot.

[chuck chopper]

This is an ASA thing

[bigsig]

We started with a discussion of whether background checks for umpires are appropriate. The fact is that today 2 out of every 10 children under 13 are molested and many of these predators are repeat offenders. Every organization which provides paid or volunteer adults for child activities has an obligation for safety. That should include facilities, equipment, and today protection against predators.

Your concerns about abuse of government power 60 years ago, or who is on a no-fly list are out of touch with technology. Here is what any individual or employer can get on the internet, without your permission or knowledge, for less than $50 and in less than 4 hours:

personal background checks - personal information search
o legal name
o public records search
o other names associated and/or linked with the subject (aka's)
o date of birth
o current and previous addresses with dates of occupancy
o current and previous phone listings
o social security number, place and date of issuance
o other social security numbers associated with subject
o other names associated with subject's social security number
o possible relatives
o other individuals who have used subject's addresses
o neighboring phone listings for subject's addresses
• criminal records search
o criminal convictions
o felony and misdemeanor convictions
o sexual offenses
o public court records search
• bankruptcies search
o chapter 7, 9, 11, 12, 13 schedule 341/trusteeship
• liens search
o federal tax lien
o state tax lien
o county tax lien
o state tax warrant
• judgments search
o small claims judgment
o civil special judgment
o deficiency judgments
o foreclosures
o forcible entry/detainer
o civil new filing
o civil dismissal
o vacated/appealed judgment
o abstract of judgment
• ucc filings search
• real property records search
o real property ownership
o parcel numbers and legal descriptions
o assessed land, improved and market values
o recent sales prices and dates
o deed transfers, including quit claims and grants
o lenders and loan amount information
• business records search
o business affiliations
• licenses search
o professional licenses
o dea controlled substances licenses
o faa pilot license, class and rating search
• vehicle & driving license records search
o drivers license search information
o other licensed drivers at subject's address
o vehicle registrations, place and date of issuance
o vehicles registered at subject's address
• watercraft registration search
• faa aircraft registration search

Every time you enter a building, use your credit card, go on the internet, use your ezpass, or make a call it’s recorded or taped. Get used to it.

Sleep well!

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by bigsig

We started with a discussion of whether background checks for umpires are appropriate. The fact is that today 2 out of every 10 children under 13 are molested and many of these predators are repeat offenders. Every organization which provides paid or volunteer adults for child activities has an obligation for safety. That should include facilities, equipment, and today protection against predators.

Your concerns about abuse of government power 60 years ago, or who is on a no-fly list are out of touch with technology. Here is what any individual or employer can get on the internet, without your permission or knowledge, for less than $50 and in less than 4 hours:

Really? RICO laws are relatively recent and have been abused since effected. Again, who plays God? You? Me? The local minister.

What happens when someone finds you or any one of us had a incident with alcohol in our youth 30+ years ago and some putz thinks, "this guy has an alcohol problem, no way he gets near the complex where my child plays"?

Don't tell me it doesn't happen. As a UIC, I have been dealing with these types for a few years now and the absurdity is beyond belief.

I am absolutely tired and disgusted with people who believe they are superior in being because they have a child to protect. Yes, the same child they routinely leave with the sitter or at the day care so they life is not interrupted. BTW, check the coaches, umpires, etc, but who checks the parents? Is there a more trusted individual associated with youth players than the parents? Who checks them to make sure there is no inappropriate action in their background? For that matter, who checks the older players? How are we to know there is no inappropriate interactions between the 16U player and the 14U player?

Mike