The Inaccuracy of Fingerprint Criminal Background Checks

Anyone who has ever been arrested and fingerprinted will have this information stored on a record of arrest and prosecution called a “rap sheet” that is kept by the FBI. Beginning in 1999, the FBI has collected an entire database of fingerprints and criminal records of millions of Americans.

When any government or public institution like a hospital, airport, school, law enforcement agency or security firm hires a new employee, they run a fingerprint background check to verify the criminal record. The state checks their records and the fingerprints through the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS).

If there is a match in their system, the results are sent back to the state with the criminal record, and the applicant’s status will be decided accordingly. Applicants are entitled to challenge the record if there is a mistake.

This may seem to be in the interest of public safety, but in many cases, these records are not accurate and can jeopardize the employment and lives of Americans.

For example, if you are charged with a crime as a juvenile and complete a diversion program of rehabilitation for minors, the charge can be dismissed, which should be reflected on your record to give you a fair chance at employment.

However, updating records does not seem to be a standard practice across the United States.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Department of Justice ran a study that found that the accuracy of criminal records varies widely by state and that in some states, as many as half of the rap sheets in the FBI’s system do not reflect changes or dismissals to charges or simply have incorrect information.

This is extremely problematic when the frequency with which fingerprint background checks are run has increased exponentially since 9/11. An FBI source stated that 24 million background checks have been processed since October of 2015; in 2002 the number of checks was 2.8 million.

For many Americans, the failure to update criminal records to reflect the outcome of their case can mean job loss or lower wages because of these background checks.

A National Employment Law Project report found that there were at least 50,000 appeals filed for mistakes on criminal records after the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) ran fingerprint background checks on workers following 9/11.

Though the FBI set out to improve the problem of updating records to show final dispositions, the issue persists.

Another study by the GAO found that to date, only 20 states have 75 percent of their records showing final disposition status, and the Department of Justice found the disparity by state is major such that 20 states will update the rap sheets to show the felony case outcome within one day of the final disposition while in others, it can take as long as 100 days.
This issue of fingerprinting has come into the spotlight again in recent months because of the ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft that have been fighting with states that want them to fingerprint their drivers. Both companies cited the inaccuracy of rap sheets in the FBI database as a major objection to fingerprinting their drivers.

The FBI has stated that it will be taking measures to improve the fingerprint database accuracy that will include developing and distributing a best practices guide so that these errors will not adversely affect Americans’ employment opportunities.

Defense attorney Steve Duckett commented, “As always it is important for citizens to remain vigilant as to what their rights are, especially in the realm of privacy and to absolutely make sure of the accuracy of their records, financial, criminal, or otherwise.”

You must be logged in to post a comment Login