Criminal record checks : confusing quality with quantity
Tuesday Jan 27, 2009
As a result of the tightening up of the enforcement of the regulations around Discloure for those working with Vulnerable Adults I am going through the process of having my rather short criminal record checked. It is so short I am more than happy to do so.
Having a process to identify and prevent those who have been convicted of past nasty stuff from working with those who may be vulnerable is a laudable goal.
It is some time since I work with organizations which manufacture weapons of mass distraction, but to get through the gate of such venerable institutions only required 1 item of photo ID (my Sun pass was considered appropriate), though I did have to be accompanied. My National Insurance number was considered enough to undertake a pre-visit check.
So for the Criminal Record check for volunteers I had to produce up to 5 items, passport, driving license, bank statement, land line phone statement and water bill were the ones that came to hand 1st.
In my days as a University A.I. Researcher I did some work on Fraud Detection and I remember a Bank Fraud Investigator mentioning in conversation that for 500 quid it was possible to get hold of a full set of identity documents that will pass inspection by the untrained eye. While they may not get you through airport immigration, they would be good enough to open a legitimate bank account. That was 14 years ago so if you know where to go I suspect the price has gone down and colour printers have much improved and got cheaper.
This is an area where quantity does not equal quality. Verifying that my passport or driving license was genuine, and not been bought from a guy in a pub who knew a guy who might be able to help, would have reduced the risk of identity fraud in the criminal record check process.
While the goal of the check is a necessity, the process is paper driven rather than goal driven. More does seem to be less in this case.
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