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nils wrote:It makes me glad that I already have mine.....what a gigantic mess...
Oldgringo wrote:nils wrote:It makes me glad that I already have mine.....what a gigantic mess...Me too.
Oldgringo wrote:nils wrote:It makes me glad that I already have mine.....what a gigantic mess...Me too.
"Some counties report as little as 17 percent of convictions to DPS, said agency spokeswoman Tela Mange."DPS Criminal Database Has Incomplete Records
The Associated Press
Nov. 25, 2008, 11:10AM
FORT WORTH, Texas — Several Texas criminal cases were never reported to the state's criminal database used by the public for background screening, an analysis concludes.
Fort Worth-based Imperative Information Group, a screening company, looked at 562 cases for offenses that ranged from theft by check to capital murder. All were known to have ended with a conviction or "deferred adjudication," similar to probation.
Its study, conducted in October, found the Department of Public Safety database did not have records on 36 percent of the 562 cases, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Tuesday. In three instances, the cases were not reported to the database even though the defendants were sentenced to death.
State licensing agencies, employers, youth sports leagues, churches and others rely on the database to screen prospective employees, customers and volunteers. The missing records stem from human error and lax reporting from law enforcement agencies, courts and district attorneys, the newspaper reported.
"We know that the data is not very reliable," said Mike Coffey, president of Imperative. "There's a false sense of security that this criminal background check is going to be effective."
The public database includes only cases that have ended in a conviction or deferred adjudication. Government agencies and certain types of employers, such as nursing homes, are allowed to access information on arrests and open cases, but they often look only for convictions, Coffey said.
DPS acknowledged the problem isn't new and blamed inconsistent reporting. Some counties report as little as 17 percent of convictions to DPS, said agency spokeswoman Tela Mange.
"It's been going on for a number of years," she said. "There's nothing we can do to force them to fix that problem."
The unreported criminal cases discovered in the study involved at least three Texas death row inmates: Stephen Dale Barbee, convicted of killing his former girlfriend and her seven-year-old son; Edward Lee Busby, Jr., convicted of killing a retired Texas Christian University professor; and Noah Espada, convicted of killing his former boss.