I’m not. Yet.
It’s actually a little bit disturbing: you can do free criminal searches on anyone. Check up on your friends! Your spouse! Neighbors! Turn them in for big cash rewards!
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
My brother’s not in there. (Thank goodness! he’s a murder witness.)
Useful, yeah.
But … they have addresses for some of these people.
I guess it’s not much different from a phone book (you know, way back when we were listed in phone books and had our addresses in ’em?), but I feel a little uneasy about it.
It’s public record, though, isn’t it? No different than reading about it in the newspaper and then following up with a white pages.
Whew. Apparently they haven’t found out about that “little incident” in 1982 involving the hot tub and several dozen 20 year-old girls.
No wait, that wasn’t real.
You can’t download and spread white pages far and wide very easily. It’s not the same at all.
Just did a search for John Doe. Wow.
The sad and scary part is that you can do this search in seconds, establishing whether a given name is associated with anything and yet we’ve got the Terrorist Database (aka the No-Fly List) and people detained on suspicion of being suspicious.
I entered the names of a couple of local n’er do wells and nothing came back. I know that both have served time here in Indiana.
I also entered Scott Peterson of Modesto California. Several came up but not the famous murderer.
Not a very impressive performance.
Yeah it is a little disturbing. I didn’t see myself, but I did see someone with my first name and last name in there under a drug offense. Only our middle initials are different. Mine is P and his is T and they can sound alike if someone isn’t paying attention.
Of course, as usual, this doesn’t apply to Canada. Must mean we don’t have any crazy criminals here in Canada! Glad to know I can, say, hop on a Greyhound bus safely this side of the border.
But my brother’s traffic offenses are. I’ll file this site under B for blackmail and T for Thanksgiving story.
I’m not in that database, but my name is. Someone with my name is guilty of sex crimes. This makes me unhappy. I first noticed the problem over two years ago when my niece had her identity stolen and I looked around to see if I was at risk. Surprise, surprise. There I was in a criminal database. Thank goodness we differ in age, height, weight, and proclivity toward sex crimes, but I wish we differed even more.
Of course I’m in there. There’s about a bazillion people with my name in this country.
Has anyone looked up Kent Hovind yet? :-D
@10 I know your answer was a set up- all I can say is don’t lose your head and leave the driving to Greyhound.
How does the information get in there? Are law enforcement agencies surveyed or asked for their information? Are they scanning online newspaper articles for keywords? Are underpaid data entry clerks typing it from microfiche of public records, with the inevitable typographical errors? Or can we enter stuff ourselves, true or not?
That site gives me the creeps. It feels like I’m about to read someone’s personal mail, just to be a snoop. I couldn’t do it, even for the one or two people I know who I’m fairly sure have records.
Does it include the “crime” of cracker desecretation?
I had no idea there were so many ‘Eric Paulsens’ out there comitting crimes. I want a database to show me what might be in an FBI or Homeland Security file. Not that I have one, but then who really knows?
Someone with my first and last names, living in Allentown, PA, has been a very naughty boy.
I always feel rather dubious about things like this. As someone who does hiring for my company, I’d like to know if the candidate I’m interviewing for a cashiering supervisor’s job has been convicted of larceny. But I really don’t care if she was convicted of criminal mischief 20 years ago. More importantly, I don’t think her subordinates should be able to find out about her criminal past.
Hmm… None of me. But, I did find some ex-girlfriends who seem to have bumped into trouble.
How come you don’t see celebrities’ names? I did a quick check on Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton. No hits on any of them.
Me, too!
Luckily, my namesake is only guilty of minor traffic offenses (which, IMHO, shouldn’t show up on a criminal background check at all), but… “there but for the grace of FSM go I.”
Scary!
I’m not in there, but there is an entry for “William Dembski”. Sadly, it’s not the right one.
I guess fart noises are considered a felony.
I searched on John Doe. He’s one sleazy guy!
61 hits for my name for every crime they have a label for. since none of them are me, i have some catching up to do. my doppelgangers have been very very busy.
I searched on the names of five people (relatives, friends, or friends of friends) who I knew had criminal records dating from as far back as 20 years to as recently as 2 years. None of their names even showed up.
Two people with the same first and last name, but different middle names are in there for traffic/other. One person with same first and last (and no MI) is in there for lots of things that all seem to stem from drug offenses. And my last name isn’t all that common. . . .
OK, my brother is there. He got in trouble twice. The first time, he pled guilty even though he wasn’t guilty because he didn’t know any better, and got a suspended sentence. The second time, the case was thrown out of court altogether. But he shows up in that database just as if he was convicted and served time, which is unfair.
Nothing came up for George W Bush
Nothing came up for George W Bush
#13: did the search for Hovind. Nothing regarding him came up (someone with the same name had traffic offenses though, but unless he is older than he looks, I don’t think it is him).
Also searched for myself. And I got a hit (First/Middle/Last names all matched) from about 30 years before I was born (Traffic/other). You gotta admit, the whole not being born thing is a solid alibi.
LOL! I’m listed in there for some chicken shit fix-it ticket I got in Newport Beach, CA like 4 years ago! What the hell man?
It appears at least seven criminals have seen Ron White’s Stand-Up. Search “Tater Salad.”
It’s a neat little tool, but I’m afraid of the consequences of employers using something like this rather than a real background check.
It’s hardly comprehensive.
NONE of my relatives are in the database.
Holy crap! I am in there for drug trafficking/possession! What the hell?!?
Oh wait….different b-day. Phew. Got worried: same first name, last name, AND middle initial…
I think my sister is in there for a traffic thing…
Why is “Bulglary” a type of offense?
Well, the database is still utterly incomplete, so it can give a huge sense of false security
DOH! I show up for “other traffic violation” I guess that’s what happens when you let a ticket slip for over a year!
Must be an incomplete database. My misdemeanor driving on a suspended license isn’t listed.
Mothra at #14: Although this is a very serious and awful situation that we’re talking about… nice one. That was very funny (but I do feel bad for laughing).
I am sad to see that I am also in the databse. They’ve got my middle name and everything. But luckily it’s just for traffic violations… and luckily, it’s some girl (actually a few) living in the US. So don’t worry guys, I’m safe to talk to – and to drive with!
This is actually a teaser for PeopleFinders.com. I once had to use them because I needed to find out where someone I lost track of lived. I was not impressed; they did not give me the person’s correct phone number which I eventually got somewhere else.
On the other hand, I did enter the name of a person whom I know has been convicted of a serious crime and I did get the correct information. (If your state has an online sex offenders registry – as does Wisconsin – you can check the accuracy of this database by typing in one of the offenders registered there.)
1) I was disappointed that it didn’t have some of my friends and relations known crimes.
2) I was highly amused to find my ex in there. I knew about the traffic violations, but the theft he hadn’t fessed up to. Now I can tease him mercilessly!
Doesn’t seem very reliable. I’ve got a misdemeanor on my record and it couldn’t find it. It was something like 18 years ago, but still…
Not a “perfect” database by any means. I had a charge in 2000, that site lists the same offense as 3 separate offenses. The dates coincide with legal filings in the local court regarding the original charge.
And no, I’m not a criminal.
I have a brother and three cousins with criminal backgrounds. All three are there and all the information is correct. My sister’s ex is also there and everything is correct.
I know… a lovely family. It’s why I prefer to be alone.
Unimpressed. I have a felony conviction for B&E and it returned nothing for my name.
#13 and #31
There are two Hovinds there. I think one of them is the “proper” one (same b-day).
http://criminalsearches.com/details.aspx?id=55360847
The offance type “Other” but nothing more specified.
Yes, I know. And that bus originated in Winnipeg, which makes connections with the north-south route through the plains states, which is the bus I take on holiday to visit family. When I heard the story on CBC ‘As It Happens’ as told by a passenger, I could not help but recall the introduction to Harlan Ellison’s Death Bird Stories.
I ran a positive control and it came up negative. I don’t think this thing is at all reliable.
Oh… one of my cousin’s convictions was back in 1978, and it was there.
Interesting how random it seems to be.
No record on an individual who is currently serving time for attempted murder.
That site works about as well as prayer.
For all the atheists:
Jesus Christ
They have sealed and juvenile records on there for the person I looked up.
Corey, nice! Surprisingly though, no sex offenses come up. Just like those catholics to always cover up the sex crimes.
I’m in there.
Illegal boat parking. Jeeeeesh – that was 20 years ago and it was a freaking Hobie Cat on the beach!
Now I gotta go on the lam, get some plastic and a new identity…
I ran one on my (adopted — no genetic relation thank you very much) brother. He has a record stretching over 30 years and at least 6 states. He also has a slightly unusually spelled name. I got nothing. I hereby call shenanigans on this web app.
I can’t find anyone I know. Not even past acquaintances. I guess I hang with the right crowds.
One might hope things like this don’t lead to vigilantism, angry mobs, or vengeance murders.
Two of my friends are listed in the database, and correctly so, given their pasts. Pasts which they’d like to put behind them so they can be more productive members of society. Gee, I’m glad I don’t live in a nation so obsessed with revenge over justice that we’re willing to allow people’s pasts to follow them forever. Even employers usually only check back 7 – 10 years… *grumble*
Oh, and one of the friends I looked up was arrested and convicted as a juvenile, yet he’s still in there. Lovely. In his case it was a sex offense, though, which I’m guessing they figure shouldn’t be hidden or whatever. Cause, you know, they don’t deserve a second chance to rebuild their lives.
(puts away Sarcasm Fingers and types with normal fingers)
Sorry, I get a little worked up on this issue. :)
I put my name in and the closest match looked like a huge mishmash of major crimes committed by someone who’s not me and some minor traffic offenses that were committed by me but were on different dates than they occurred (or this other me likes to get caught speeding in the exact same zone doing the exact same speed). Could just be coincidence, but it looks more like two separate records mashed together. (Same name, including middle name, and the birthdates are six days and thirty years apart.) Or maybe I just forgot about that petty larceny that landed me in jail when I was eleven. :-p
Ran 17 names of people in the state of Arizona that are currently behind bars, or famous cases. Only 2 came back with the correct information.
Not a very accurate system. In fact, I’d go as far as to say the beta tag is reaching. Alpha, and early alpha is more like it.
This is distressingly more common than you might think.
I use public records databases for a living and you wouldn’t believe the number of foulups, mistakes etc. that are in even the best sources. You have to triple and quadruple check everything.
And there’s certainly the potential for mistaken identity here…
Hey, I managed to find a record for classic Sci-Fi Author Robert Sheckley! (Nothing nasty of course!)
Oh, and just found screenwriter/director Frank Darabont, of ‘Shawshank Redemption’ fame and more recently ‘The Fog’.
Wonder what ‘VIOL OF BASIC RULE’ means?
This is soooo nosy!
Why, when someone is guilty of domestic violence, do they list the name of the victim?
Hey
I checked myself and apparently I’ve got a rap sheet longer than Charlie Manson and I don’t even LIVE in the US. Someone over there with my name has been a very very bad girl.
Response for my name:
Damn – if they’ve found out that much, what’s keeping the SWAT team?
this is how to get off this horrible database:
http://www.squidoo.com/personalInformation
if someone has a criminal record then they have gone through the process to pay their debt to society.
the general public should not be privy to this information. it makes it difficult to get an interview for a job, let alone the job. the information is not always correct. the information isn’t parsed according to severity. regular people do not know how to interpret the information and it makes for persecution.
the right to privacy is related to the right to have an abortion. these are personal matters that do not serve the public good. the massive amount of gossip mongering in these comments goes along way to show this. the fear of victims goes a long way to show this. rational research on employment goes to show this. is the right to private health care no less important than attaining justice from our rule of law?
if the government is incapable of rehabilitating criminal offenders then you should vote your representatives out of office. these irresponsible record searches only make for a continual punishment of people who made good with the law.
Yep, I am in there.
Not surprised really, googling my name returns court dates and the likes as well.
Here’s another search tool that’s more useful. I’ve used it to find lost friends. You feed in the name and state, and it returns hits with full name, age, city and state, and even possible relatives.
http://www.usa-people-search.com/
Five people have the same name as me. No criminal records for any of us. Boring!
I’m not in it, but one of my younger brothers is. Seems like he had a bit of a temper back in the nineties.
Not that impressive. There are websites that give tons more information for FREE if you know where to look. Try ZabaSearch, or if you are in Oklahoma, odcr.com, but leave my name out of it!
I can tell you from experience of having a multi-syllabic last name that few can spell or pronounce, that such names go a long way to protecting your anonymity….and, as my father found out when he was drafted in the Korean war, it also tends to keep boot camp sergeants from assigning you to shit detail all the time — much to the chagrin of those names Jones and Smith.
I can tell you from experience of having a multi-syllabic last name that few can spell or pronounce, that such names go a long way to protecting your anonymity (I never find any references to me in this database or even on the Internet at large)….and, as my father found out when he was drafted in the Korean war, it also tends to keep boot camp sergeants from assigning you to shit detail all the time — much to the chagrin of those names Jones and Smith.
Sundar, Paris is indeed listed, as is OJ!
“Note: Some states include minor traffic offenses in the data that we receive; however, these people might not be actual criminals.”
Looks like a good reason to petition the court to expunge one’s record after paying off a speeding ticket.
-jcr
Oh crap, there I am. Riding my Harley with a non-approved helmet.
OK – now you all know what a desperado hells angel I am. Cripes!
The Florida Department of Corrections has a page that actually works: DOC
With plenty of search options and photos.
Except for the option to choose a specific criminal offense category, it reminds me of an online dating service.
Actually, that would be a good addition for online dating services….
Not an impressive data base. I searched on this guy and he wasn’t there.
I can’t be the only one who searched for George Bush yet! I haven’t tried with the W, but there’s plenty of hits on George Bush.
Cheezits said: Of course I’m in there. There’s about a bazillion people with my name in this country.
Huh.
I wouldn’t have thought Cheezits was a very common name.
:)
Holy bajeezus… I just typed in the names of random people I’ve known throughout the years, whether I’m still in contact with them or now… and almost ALL of them have a public record!
No. Not in it. Did my whole zip code. Noticed there are a lot of errors in the database. Not worth while.
Apparently I got busted for carrying a Pistol with out a permit in 1980…. when I was 9.
I’m not in this database, although I have several namesakes. One has even been convicted of murder(!), although I have a different skin colour from that guy.
The strange thing is that I should be in this database. I have a criminal conviction on my record, for criminal tresspass, arising out of an anti-war protest, plus plenty of nuisance arrests without convictions for other protests.
I also checked some notable political prisoners, like Leonard Peltier, Herman Wallace (one of the Angola Three), Eric McDavid and others. Only my search for Herman Wallace turned up results, and none of them were for the right man.
I guess this isn’t quite comprehensive.
I am too good to get caught. bad-a-bing!
Just kidding. I am not in there but I did find my ex-husband. He was arrested for drunk driving. Considering that was one of the many reasons I left him 23 years ago, I was not surprised.
#13, Cheezits:
Mmh… a Kent Hovind is listed as a speed/traffic offender and one time under “other”. I wonder whether “other” includes tax fraud, but there’s no information except birthyear and “male” on that one (excuse me for not knowing Hovind’s birthday).
HAH. I mean, horrible privacy implications, etc… but I just searched on a friend of mine who emigrated to the States some years ago, always been a bit of a wildcard – and HAH, ten traffic violations. *g*
criminal searches on anyone … except on about 95% of the world’s population.
I always seem to notice these things; for Americans “anyone” = “any American”
This thing is complete bullshit, I seacrhed myself and other offenders and nothing came up
Actually Big Dumb Chimp is a pretty common name in many States, so that’s not surprising.
I searched for Osama Bin Laden…..
He isn’t on the list.
So he should be ok. Shouldn’t he?
LOL
I searched for W with his DOB (July 6, 1946) and with his middle name (Walker) – no hits on either.
I’m sure W got whatever cocaine/drunk driving charges there were against him removed from the record. It would actually be a relatively modest abuse of power, compared to all the other things.
In the UK now, anyone can text a car registration number to a certain Government number, and they’ll reply back sending details of whether the car is stolen or not, how old it is, et cetera.
I suppose it is a good way for the police to keep track on stolen cars if the public are doing free criminal searches on all their neighbours!
I’m not in there either, but my name is in there a few times. One guy even has the same middle name too, save for the spelling being off by one letter. Fortunately, I’m 50, 6 foot 2 and white. He’s 30, 6 foot 6 and black. But still, it’s another reason why I wouldn’t want to cross the border any more. Some US border guards are batshit crazy.
“Note: Some states include minor traffic offenses in the data that we receive; however, these people might not be actual criminals.”
Yeah, that makes me feel so much better.
At least they set things up by birthday as well.
I that’s nice and creepy. I need to book mark that and have fun with it when I’m not at work. Clean slate for me hooray! Everything is legal if you don’t get caught. ::winks::
Worthless. I entered the names of several people I know with some sort of criminal record — famous, not famous, misdemeanors, and even a convicted murderer who killed a friend’s aunt — and got absolutely nothing. Yet browsing turned up all kinds of petty bullshit — mostly unspecified bullshit, at that.
I looked up several people I know with criminal records and they’re not in there.
I’m not in there. I think I may be the only person in the country with the particular firstname-lastname combination I have though.
I looked up a guy I know who is serving time in the federal prison system right now and he only has a DUI according to the search. Anyone think it may not be turning up federal crimes?
Well it’s good to know that there are no Elwood Herrings on there, especially considering that
1) I’m not a criminal
2) I don’t live in the U.S.
4) Elwood Herring is not my real name
5) Apparently I can’t count.
However the site http://www.howmanyofme.com/ tells me that there are at least two… er, three people in the U.S. with that name. I hope they all continue behaving themselves otherwise I would have to find a new username! (I shorten it to “El” on this site to disassociate myself with “woo”.)
btw How do you do a [strikethrough] here?
Wow – “Bill Gates” lights up the whole page! Who’da thunk it…
It is worth pointing out that this is not a database of criminals. It is a database of people who have been charged with a crime.
They list people whose cases have been dismissed, so those people are not criminals at all. They were not convicted of a crime, but still they are listed.
We live in a culture that despises victims.
And that is a database whose purpose is to leverage and manipulate people’s fears – not to help people. It’s among the most immoral forms of internet business.
I’ve often wondered if in the Google age it is better to have a completely unique name or a very common name; and now I know the answer. My name’s committed every crime in every state, and now nobody knows what I really get up to, har har har harggh!
Oddly, i am. Not as a hit in the criminal search, but over in the box on the right where it says “Additional Results from PeopleFinders.com” with “ADDITIONAL RESULTS” bolded.
PeopleFinders is, of course, a pay site.
Sleazeballs.