Three Reasons Employers Should Perform Criminal Record Checks on Employees

Although this has always been a sensitive issue amongst both employers and employees, there has been a great deal of argument on whether or not employers should have the right to do this. Unfortunately, due to many cases where the employer should have been aware of a criminal record, this is a very common request amongst employers these days.

After hiring private investigator Connecticut in this field for well over twenty years, in most cases it’s in the best interest of employers to have a criminal record check done and here are three reasons why:

Can Save You Money

You are probably thinking how will paying for acriminal record check save me money? However, if you hire an employee and that person ends up stealing hundreds, or worse, thousands of dollars from your business, you’ll end up saving money in the long run. You can think of a criminal record check as car insurance. Sure if no car accidents happen, then it does cost you money. However, if you are in an accident, it saves you money, and a LOT of money.

Prevent Lawsuits

There have been many instances where when a client or customer finds out an employer’s employee has a criminal record, they feel as if they were put in danger and have the right to file a lawsuit against the business. For businesses that involved intense customer – employee relationships such as old age homes, hospitals, or rehab facilities this can be an extremely serious issue.

Get Insight Into Your Employees

Performing a criminal record check allows you to get much better insight into your employees past behavior. If they have nothing in their criminal record, obviously this is a positive sign that they have a positive past. However, if they have some incidents in their criminal record, you can get better insight into potential anger issues or other behavioral patterns.

For more information on where you can obtain criminal background checks, visit www.JenningsSmith.com

Jennings Smith is a highly experienced team of professionally licensed and fully credentialed private investigators and security consultants. Jennings Smith Investigations, Inc.provides a complete range of private investigator, security and forensic services to clients throughout Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, nationally and internationally. Based in Hartford, CT, Jennings Smith offers private investigator services with affiliate offices in every major city in the US and Canada, as well as South and Central America, Europe and Asia.

Why Your School Needs Safety Audits

With the shooting that took place recently at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and the two threats recently that came terrifyingly after the Sandy Hook massacre. 24-year old Kyle Bangayan was arrested in Los Angeles, California for threatening to attack an elementary school as well as a threat from 19-year-old Korry Martinson in Washington.

The unfortunate factor about these events is that sometimes, no matter how much precautionary safety measures the school has taken, these events just can’t be prevented. But for schools wanting to try their hardest at preventing horrible events such as this, they should be implementing the following:

IDing all Visitors

Some parents and school employees think this is over the top, but it will prevent any predators from entering the school who aren’t supposed to be on the premises. Simply IDing all visitors coming into the school and recording their purpose for the visit is a good security measure.

Practice the Safety Plan

ALL schools should have a safety plan that is practiced regularly by students. Some people feel this is too dramatic, but students and teachers need to know exactly what to do in these types of situations – especially the teachers.

Get a Safety Audit

For those schools that can afford it, you should be having a school safety audit done which will allow you to see exactly what safety precautions should be done and the plan of action to ensure a proper safety plan is started.

We aren’t suggesting that everyone should live in fear as we can’t control when or if these events will happen, how humans will react, and what will turn out, but we can do everything in our power to prepare for these types of catastrophic situations.

School Audit Service Provider

Private Investigator Connecticut are a highly experienced team of professionally licensed and fully credentialed private investigators and security consultants. Jennings Smith Investigations, Inc provides a complete range of private investigator, security and forensic services to clients throughout Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, nationally and internationally. Based in Hartford, CT, Jennings Smith offers private investigator services with affiliate offices in every major city in the US and Canada, as well as South and Central America, Europe and Asia.

Operating within its network of renowned Private Investigator Connecticut, security consultants and forensic experts, during the past 25 years Jennings Smith Investigation, Inc. has successfully solved cases and completed assignments in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, throughout the United States and across the world.

3 Ways to Protect Your Business From a Cyber Strike

Well it’s absolutely no news flash to anyone now that the most useful resource you can get from many organizations isn’t physical; it’s all on their computers.Both small companies as well as larger sized businesses have become victims of cyber strikes and sadly, this issue doesn’t appear to be going away any time in the near future.

Defense breaches in the US really result in about $3.7 million in damages affected by companies every year. So all you are able to do is take all the private investigator Connecticut or preventive actions to make sure you don’t become the next target. Check out these three solutions to protect against cyber strikes:

Antivirus

Well this is really a no-brainer regardless of whether you are a company or individual – you should always have a legitimate anti-virus program on your computer. An antivirus can capture anything attempting to harm your computer before it really does any destruction. The majority of antivirus programs also offers a hacker defense program.

Solid Passwords

An extremely intelligent and prosperous company security specialist once claimed, the best passwords are those that are so complicated, you can’t remember them yourself. You need to be selecting passwords consisting of one of each of the following: lower case characters, upper case letter, numbers, and one symbol.

Password Replace Alert

With regards to passwords for high security data, you ought to be adjusting your passwords once every month. I strongly recommend that companies establish a calendar alert to go off once every month to notify ALL personnel to modify their passwords.

Hopefully these guidelines have assisted you and stay tuned for additional security tips private investigator Connecticut for companies. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @JenningsSmith

3 Methods to Guarantee Your Company is Prepared for A Crisis

Even though the majority of business owners and managers consider the likelihood of an “emergency” occurring at their company is quite minor, they neglect to recognize that although the probabilities might be slim….it’s being prepared that positions you ahead of the rivalry. A crisis could be as minor as having your Twitter account hacked into, to as massive as encountering a serious natural disaster. So take a look at these various tips on how to ensure that your company is well prepared for the worst:

Worker Protection

There are many companies that regrettably don’t take many human resource guidelines important which can lead to some extremely major private investigator connecticut security. Continually make certain you are totally recognizing ALL human resource regulations such as being sure workspace safety courses are completed, having emergency exit paths published all through your business, and having an emergency first aid kit at the workplace.

NDAs& Confidentiality Agreements

This is yet another private investigator Connecticut security and business safety element that we see numerous companies not taking seriously. You should have each employee or contractor sign both an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) and a Confidentiality Agreement. This guarantees that in case an ex-employee at any time unveiled private information regarding your company when they left your company, you will have permissible power to take them to trial.

Maintain Backup of All Data

Some managers and entrepreneurs don’t actually understand what a hard drive is not to mention what backing up is – but a hard drive is a small gadget that could potentially secure your company in the event of a fire, flood, natural disaster, or theft of data. A hard drive enables you to backup your whole computer (data files, folders, emails, etc.) to ensure that in the event your computer crashes, gets stolen or gets damaged beyond restore – you will have a backup of all your data.

I hope that these guidelines have assisted you in better comprehending and learning how to be ready for an emergency. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @JenningsSmith

5 Tips for 2012 Halloween Safety

Hard to believe it’s that time of year again, but it has come! Halloween 2012 is happening tomorrow and kids everywhere are all ready with their costumes, candy bags, and excitement! However, as parents, it’s your job to ensure that you take the necessary precautions to keep your little ones safe, so check out these five ways to ensure you little one stays safe and sound this Halloween:

Glow Sticks
With your little ones running from house to house in the dark, it can be very hard for cars to see them, so ensure they are properly lit up and buy glow sticks that have strings on them so you can tie them onto your little one.

Supervision
So many parents who have children around “that age” where they have a difficult time determining whether or not they need to accompany their children when they are trick or treating; however, it’s always best to play it safe and go with them. Even if you think your child is old enough to go out on their own with their friends, with you being present, your child is more likely to make better decisions.

Pick and Choose Candy
When your kiddos finish trick or treating, don’t let them hoe into their candy quiet yet, wait until you get home, can pour out all of the candy and sort through them. Throw out ALL homemade treats! As nice as it is that someone took the time to make a homemade treat for kids at Halloween, you can never be 100% sure what exactly is in those homemade treats, so play it safe than sorry.

Go To The Door
Don’t stand back by the road or at the end of the driveway because that limits your vision in some situations. You should go right up to the door with your kids or at least go close enough that you can see the full door and the person handing out the candy.

Check for Registered Sex Offenders
Some parents think this is going “over-the-top” but unfortunately it’s become the way of our world. There is a website called Family WatchDog where you can see registered sex offenders and where they live. This will allow you to avoid those areas all together just to be safe.

We also want to introduce here you about our Jennings Smith Private Investigations Inc. Firm:
Jennings Smith Investigations, Inc. provides a complete range of private investigator, security and forensic services to clients throughout Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, nationally and internationally. Based in Hartford, CT, Jennings Smith offers Private Investigator Connecticut services with affiliate offices in every major city in the US and Canada, as well as South and Central America, Europe and Asia.

5 Privacy Tips When Sharing Info on Social Media

We all love social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. However, in this business I’ve also seen many innocent people be attacked through these social networks as well. In today’s world so many people are literally sharing their ENTIRE lives online and this is opening up a gateway for others to get into their lives and attack. Please follow these five important social network safety tips to protect yourself:

1. Limit Sharing

I’ve seen some people actually set their Facebook sharing settings to “Public” – I never did understand this. For myself, I actually limit to a select few only (usually family members that live away). When you set your sharing limits to “Public”, this literally gives ANYONE with an internet connection the option of viewing your posts, pictures, statuses, etc.

2. Be Weary Logging in Through Public Computers.

When you log into your Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or LinkedIn from a public computer, you are leaving your username and password begin on that computer. It really doesn’t matter if it’s establish business your at (such as a coffee shop, internet café, public library, etc.) – if the next person who uses that computer knows what they’re doing, they will be able to get your information and have access to your entire personal life online.

3. Never Show Your Full Birthday

This is a safety point that most people find hard to take seriously. However, when you reveal your full birth date (day, month, and year), this is sometimes the only information someone needs to get other information. It’s fine if you want to state your birthday and month, but withhold the year for your protection.

4. Ensure You Get Account Activity Alerts

Facebook offers an option in Account Settings where every time you log into your Facebook account from a new device (laptop, computer, mobile phone, etc.) it will send an alert to ensure it WAS actually you logging in. This is very good information to have because anytime someone who isn’t you logs into your account, you will get a notification, which will prompt you to change your password and avoid any further privacy attacks.

5. Limit What Your Friends Can Share

This is an option that most people don’t even consider or know about. But when you are tagged in a status update, photo, etc. with others, those others can share that item and if they have their privacy settings set to “Public”, then that gets blasted out onto the internet. To adjust these settings, go to “Privacy Settings”, then go to “Apps, Games, and Websites”, then adjust each setting to your preferences

Jennings Smith Investigations Inc. provides a complete range of private investigator, security and forensic services to clients throughout Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, nationally and internationally. Based in Hartford, CT, Jennings Smith offers Private Investigator Connecticut services with affiliate offices in every major city in the US and Canada, as well as South and Central America, Europe and Asia.

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this article and stay tuned for more internet safety blog posts!

3 Tips for Family Cyber Safety

With all the Internet scams, security issues, and cyber attacks that occur these days, every parent is doing everything in their power to protect their little ones from cyber space. You can limit pages, monitor their searching, and block websites, but sometimes even that doesn’t cut it. Here are three more safety tips for parents dealing the cyber safety:

1. Set an Age Limit and Stick to It

We see kids as young as 7 years old creating their own Facebook profiles pages – this is very unnecessary. At that young age, kids don’t realize that what they do online will be there forever. So it’s the parents’ job to step in and set a limit. A good age to allow your child to create a Facebook profile is 14 years of age. Some parents even say that this age is too young, but if you restrict them too much, it could backlash. So age 14 is a decent age, and you can still monitor what they do.

2. Cut Off Time

Many parents don’t know this, but you can actually set it up so that your Internet literally turns off at a certain time each night and doesn’t turn back on until the morning. Private Investigator Connecticut is a great tool and if you aren’t familiar on how to use it, contact your Internet provider and they can probably walk you through the process. Studies have actually shown that later hours of night is when many kids “sneak” online without their parents knowing, so by creating a cut off time, this restricts them. Also, make sure there are no neighbor networks that your kids can connect to once your Internet is turned off.

3. Talk With Your Kids

Sometimes using case studies to show your kids how dangerous the internet can be is great. For example, showing your teenage daughter some case studies of other teenagers who posted inappropriate pictures online and the consequences they had to face because of it can be enough to show them what they should be doing and what they should not do. Some people think Private Investigator Connecticut is over the top, but I’ve seen it work in so many situations that I’m a firm believer in it. The fact is that it’s the truth – our kids can make mistakes online sometimes and they don’t know what they are getting into because they don’t know what consequences they’ll face – by showing them real life case studies, it gives them a taste of how realistic the internet can be.

Hopefully these tips have helped you and if you have some tips that you’d like you to share with other parents, please feel free to post!

The Last straw….Time to get real about Background Investigations

The Arrest of two teachers for Lewd conduct at the Miramonte Elementary School should serve as a national wakeup call for all School Districts to require Comprehensive Background Investigations conducted by qualified Private Investigators of School administrators, teachers and youth serving professionals.

While Superintendents and Public Officials state that they conduct “Background Checks” of educators and staff, the truth is those “Checks” only focus on past criminal record searches of the subject prior to his/her hiring. Once the initial criminal records searches are conducted, few school districts conduct subsequent or follow up inquires of those repositories to determine if the subject has been arrested for any crime involving minors or crimes of ‘moral turpitude’.

Many of these districts continue to vet their applicants by only checking their applicant’s academic records and previous work history.

Clearly, these practices have to change, especially in view of increased awareness and public anger over the ever-rising number of cases of sexual assaults both in and out of school by employees of school districts.

Our children are and will be at serious risk unless something is done to protect them now. This is not the time to get corporate about this issue. Not the time to convene seminars, meetings, symposiums or assemblies. Action is needed, not words. No more apologies or lame excuses for failing to provide safeguards or programs to weed out sexual predators who pose as youth serving professionals.

While you may think that use of Licensed Private Investigator Connecticut to conduct pre- employment background investigations of school personnel is a bit heavy handed, there are several key reasons to do so:

The arrest of teachers at the Miramonte Elementary School is not an anomaly as most educational institutions would purport but rather a endemic of national proportion. In Connecticut, for example a jury recently convicted a teacher for having sexual relations with a student.

Jennings Smith Investigations, Inc. provides a complete range of Private Investigator Connecticutsecurity and forensic services to clients, New York and New Jersey, nationally and internationally. Based in Hartford, CT, Jennings Smith offers private investigator services with affiliate offices in every major city in the US and Canada, as well as South and Central America, Europe and Asia.

Don’t Even Ask… No Legitimate Licensed Private Investigator Connecticut will perform these services:

We call them “Street Calls”, when prospective clients call asking us to conduct an investigation to obtain personal information about a competitor, significant other, business associate, casual acquaintance or family member. When we question the caller to determine what information they really want us to secure, it inevitably involves three specific areas; Bank Account Records, Tax Returns, or Telephone Account Call Logs.

While the callers may be straightforward and earnest in their requests, they are certainly naïve when it comes to the legal implications involved. We give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they’ve missed the memo, so to speak, and advise them that obtaining or even attempting to obtain the requested information is patently illegal. To validate our position, we’ll cite the Federal Statutes applicable to their requests as follows:

The Gramm- Leach-Bliley Act (GLB) protects Bank Account records for businesses and individual customers from any third party disclosure. There are strict prohibitions that allow access or sharing of account information under certain limited conditions. The Bank or Financial Institution must have ‘Safeguards’ in place to prevent or preclude dissemination of customer records through pre-texting or other devises or schemes to breach the information. All attempted violations are routinely reported to the FBI.

Tax Returns are confidential and protected under IRS Regulations. No one can access them unless the individual taxpayer provides specific authorization. Moreover, a CPA or Accountant is forbidden to provide tax returns to any third party unless authorized in writing.

Obtaining Telephone Records including Account Call Logs is a violation of Federal Statute(s) under the Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act of 1996 (TRPPA). The Law covers land lines, long distance calls, cell phones, and VOIP (Voice Over Internet) systems. Violations of the law can lead to arrest and convictions leading to fines and a minimum of 10 years in Prison.

In addition to the above Federal Statutes, Most States have enacted legislation that protects individuals and businesses from unauthorized access to personal and confidential records by unauthorized third parties.

Clearly, No Legally Licensed Private Investigator will accept any assignment that could jeopardize his license and livelihood, or subject themselves or their firm to criminal prosecution, for the sake of obtaining confidential 3rd party records.

Jennings Smith Investigations, Inc. provides a complete range of private investigator connecticut, security and forensic services to clients throughout Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, nationally and internationally. To know more about it visit our website: www.jenningssmith.com

Private Investigator Connecticut - A Background Investigation Firm At Large Scale

Background Checks vs. Background Investigations.. Failing to understand differences in the level of due diligence can have dire consequences.

Most Businesses perform cursory Background Checks that require all prospective applicants employees be vetted to verify their education level, vocational experience, prior employment, and local agency criminal records checks. While somewhat effective, they are limited in scope as they do not provide in depth, state-by-state, record searches or include documented criminal charges beyond a specific time frame of 5 years. As an example, our firm conducted Background Investigations on several employees of a distribution company after large shipments of inventory went missing. While the company had conducted Background Checks and the employee’s information seemed to be correct, the data provided was for information collected in the state in which they currently resided.

Our follow up Background private investigator connecticutrevealed that several of the employees who were suspected of committing the thefts had previously resided in a nearby state and were known convicted felons, one of whom had served time for attempted murder.

The employer notified the local police department and we were jointly able to develop additional information regarding the stolen shipments and determined some of the goods were taken to a storage facility, and then systematically sold to a discount store. In all, even after recovering a large portion of the stolen inventory, the losses to the business exceeded 100,000.00, a steep price to pay because of ineffective background checks conducted in the first instance.

This case is one of many that underscore the need to conduct comprehensive Background Investigations rather than on-line Background Checks that rely on outdated or questionable resources.

Our private investigator connecticut firm has been conducting comprehensive Background Investigations for the past 35 years and serves businesses; insurance and financial institutions, individual clients, investors, HR professionals and the legal community. We conduct these investigations using proven tasking methodologies, employ state of the art data retrieval systems, conduct one on one interviews, and research repositories for factual information on the subject or subjects of our investigation. While the bulk of our Background Investigations are in the U.S.A, we accept foreign assignments work with qualified investigative counterparts and entities to secure information and documents from over 200 countries.

For further information or to discuss our Background Investigation Services, contact us via email or call our toll free number. When the Truth is worth knowing… contact Jennings Smith Investigations.