Comments on: Do you really know who people are?

Do you really know who people are?

tellurian — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:39:32 -0800

Criminal Searches - Making you feel safer or increasing your fear?

No results for Theodore Kaczynski.

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:42:14 -0800

Woohoo!! All the criminals are in US states!

By: numinous

numinous — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:46:30 -0800

ALL YOUR UNLAWFUL TRANSGRESSIONS ARE BELONG TO U.S.

By: TheOnlyCoolTim

TheOnlyCoolTim — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:12:51 -0800

Well, I got a little surprise. (No, it's not me.)

By: BuddhaInABucket

BuddhaInABucket — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:52:51 -0800

1) I am appalled that this information is available to the public, for everyone to see. 2) I am looking up everyone I know.

By: zylocomotion

zylocomotion — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:04:25 -0800

This is just beautiful. I'm on this list. And I'm about to start searching for a job after I relocate to Austin. My "criminal offense" was for failure to stop at a stop sign. I took traffic school to have it wiped from my record. Why the hell is it showing up on Random Internet Site #123849 after eight years? Who the hell are these people? _{Some states include minor traffic offenses in the data that we receive; however, these people might not be actual criminals.} Really? I might not?? How about "ARE NOT"??

By: longsleeves

longsleeves — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:04:36 -0800

Babysitter, nanny Cleaning service, janitor Neighbor Construction workers School teachers Electrician, plumber, gardener Locksmith Acquaintances Your children's friends Before you agree to that next playdate......

By: zylocomotion

zylocomotion — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:05:29 -0800

Unless of course you heard about that thing with the dead handicapped nun.

By: katillathehun

katillathehun — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:14:33 -0800

I can totally see my mom looking me up on this thing and then complaining about the unreliability of the internet when she doesn't find me in there.

By: longsleeves

longsleeves — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:18:23 -0800

Unless of course you heard about that thing with the dead handicapped nun let's meet in the D.H.N. chatroom, zylo.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:22:53 -0800

This site is not reliable. I looked up Johnny Cash, and he ain't in there, even though I know he shot a man in Reno. Just to watch him die.

By: zylocomotion

zylocomotion — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:24:24 -0800

Oh, to hell with it. I've been looking for an excuse to get new tattoo anyway.

By: loiseau

loiseau — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:27:39 -0800

I thought this was going to be one of those sites that sends back a picture of a monkey on a driver's license with your name on it or something.

By: Daddy-O

Daddy-O — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:38:50 -0800

No hits on 2 people I KNOW have convictions.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:42:22 -0800

He fudged his age by a year and a few days.

By: wendell

wendell — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:42:28 -0800

Okay, all the high-profile MeFites whose "real" names I know (including the Mods) all seem to be clean, all the offenses under their names were obviously somebody else with the same name of a different age in another state, except for one who apparently shows THREE "O" class crimes - which turned out to be a trio of minor driving infractions (no license, no reg & no lights) from a single incident. No, I'm not saying who. (And go ahead and look me up; I know you want to. The last name is spelled W-I-T-T-L-E-R, my 'legal' first name is not Wendell, I've lived in California since I was 5 years old and my birthdate's in my profile. I already looked. There's a bad guy in Texas with a first name and birthdate that are close enough to mine that I might think twice about the reliability of local law enforcement before visiting Texas)

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:48:38 -0800

No hits on 2 people I KNOW have convictions. Presumably, that's why it's free. Searches of publicly available on-line databases can be done at virtually no cost. The more reliable private databases require either charges or bribes to get access. And while I don't much like the idea of this thing either, I think it's one of the inevitable costs of an open system of justice, conducted in the public view rather than in some secret gulag, combined with the massive computing power now available to everybody.

By: chillmost

chillmost — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:58:42 -0800

Holy shit! It's gonna be an interesting family reunion next year.

By: chillmost

chillmost — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:02:10 -0800

OMG! Boy, you think you know somebody... I'm not on the list, but seriously, this is not cool.

By: chillmost

chillmost — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:03:36 -0800

From the bottom of the page: All of our information is public domain and is presented "as is". This data is collected electronically and errors do occur. If you feel something has been reported in error please contact us and we will address.

By: chillmost

chillmost — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:10:44 -0800

Having a wide stance is not a crime!

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:22:38 -0800

Need More Information? Get a full comprehensive background check on Donald L Kraft or any other criminal. Full Name: Donald L Kraft Date of Birth: 01/01/1972 AKAs: Height: Weight: Hair Color: Eye Color: Race: Gender: Unspecified ADDRESSES O CRIMINAL OFFENSE 1 Offense Date: Legend Bv Behavioral Bu Business D Drug & Alcohol S Sex Related T Theft V Violent O Other Case Number: 04N9-CR00799 Offense Type: Traffic Offense Offense Code: 4660800 Offense Desciption: OPERATED VEHICLE ON HWY WITHOUT VALID LICENSE - 1ST OR 2ND OFFENSE { MISDEMEANOR A RSMO: 302.020 }(1) Wow. They, like, missed six or seven. Juicy ones at that. And, um, "Gender: Unspecified" WTF?

By: Mutant

Mutant — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:37:52 -0800

They seem to have some data integration issues; I looked up a few acquaintances from The Old Days and one who served a conviction of manslaughter (pleaded down from murder one) isn't present in their system, and neither is another acquaintance currently residing in Elmira. On the other hand, several incidents that I have first hand knowledge of appear to have been changed - a violent assault / conviction now shows up as "other" with few details about the actual event. And date of offense seems to be missing for everyone I looked up. As this information is not only available but correct in various systems accessible by the general public (I only looked up stuff I'd already seen online) I wonder if they don't have permission, but instead are scraping / otherwise pulling data from existing systems, but without the cooperation of the site owners. Curious. In any case, this seems to illustrate the lack of US legislation pertaining to personal data, such as the UK's data protection act or the European Union's Directive 95 / 46 regarding "the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data" Truth be told, I'm not sure if this would be illegal in Europe, but at least there are some policies in place here. Does the US have anything at all regarding such data?

By: ryanrs

ryanrs — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:21:26 -0800

Criminal convictions are generally a matter of public record, at least for adults. That doesn't seem terribly unreasonable.

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:32:22 -0800

So I'm on IMDB and Criminal Searches? Doesn't that make me Robert Downey Junior? My traffic indiscretions from, er, six years ago come back to haunt. Alas.

By: JaredSeth

JaredSeth — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:46:20 -0800

Well, I wasn't in there, which means I can name a couple states that must not contribute their records to this database. Sadly I was able to confirm what I'd heard about my best friend from high school. First degree, Claude? WTF!?! I hope you have internet access in there so you can see how disappointed I am with you!

By: The Straightener

The Straightener — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:01:53 -0800

Pennsylvania's criminal court records have been online at Web Dockets for a while now, at least a year and a half that I'm aware of. Public criminal court records are not a bad thing, as a social worker I used Web Dockets all the time to get background info on clients that the agency needed. If you're working with someone who has a history of sexual violence, women staffers should know that. If one of your clients gets locked up, sometimes this is the only way to find out which facility they're in so you can keep them from getting lost in the system. Without Web Dockets it could take weeks to get this kind of information. If the information wasn't public it would require signed releases that would be next to impossible to obtain. No hits on 2 people I KNOW have convictions. Possibly had their record's expunged, but could also be the case that Mutant argues above. PA's system is exhaustive, and I mean has everything on everyone and anyone dating all the way back to the early '70s.

By: CuJoe

CuJoe — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:41:10 -0800

How is it they don't have Charles frigging MANSON!?!?!

By: bitmage

bitmage — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:44:23 -0800

Be very careful about assuming that you've found the person you're searching for. There are no less than four people listed in my state that match my first, middle, and last names exactly. Three of them were born in the same year. One of them has his birthdate in the same month and year as mine, off by 11 days. I can easily see someone doing a search on Bit The Mage, in NC, born 2/1962 and finding a match - got to be the same guy, right? For extra points, my doppelganger has a long history of drink, drugs, trespass, and assaults on females. Lovely. I'm gonna be much more nervous if I ever get pulled over.

By: waytoomuchcoffee

waytoomuchcoffee — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:50:44 -0800

Nothing. There goes my street cred.

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:52:39 -0800

Matthew Haughey gets a hit--failure to use image tag.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:06:23 -0800

As much as it must suck to get arrested, it must have really sucked to get arrested when you're a black man in your 50s with the unfortunate name of Paris Hilton.

By: PigAlien

PigAlien — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:34:06 -0800

excellent, i'm not on there. hahaha, my offenses shall remain secret. minor misdemeanors anyway, but it probably helped to be caught in podunk rural counties of midwestern states that don't have the resources to automate court or police records... yet... stay tuned!

By: tellurian

tellurian — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:40:42 -0800

I am appalled at the level of innacuracy here. I made light of this resource by stating that there is no record for Theodore Kaczynski and linking to the record of 'George W Bush of Texas'. I expected outrage at the ease at which you can retrieve information about your relative/friend/neighbour. Some members queried the site about people in their life. The results were sometimes innacurate. Some users of other systems have pointed out that more accurate and current information can be obtained from other databases*. The information that you get from criminalsearches.com is flawed. I think that this form of information presentation is socially divisive and serves no common good. Those people that should have access to this information can acquire it by other legal channels. What good is served by providing a flawed set of records to the general public? *Cost and methods of obtaining the information is not clear.

By: PigAlien

PigAlien — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:42:31 -0800

I think they should add a voting system to this with robot execution drones. Kinda like hot-or-not with uzis. The most unpopular criminals could be tracked down and shot. Viva mob justice! Who trusts our corrupt system anyway?

By: TheOnlyCoolTim

TheOnlyCoolTim — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:48:04 -0800

So, tellurian, would you prefer that we conduct our judicial processes in secret? Me, I prefer the transparency. The site could be better, but it provided me some good-to-know information (which I did confirm and find out more details about from another source, but I wouldn't have found anything in the first place without this tool.)

By: PigAlien

PigAlien — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:49:16 -0800

of course, they should add mugshot too! oh... and it might encourage criminals to get makeovers, so that our criminal underclass could more closely match its hollywood representation. I mean, who doesn't want to be terrorized by glamorous criminals? Then again, Ted Bundy and Andrew Cunanan were kinda hot... Maybe they'd still be around!

By: tellurian

tellurian — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:29:20 -0800

I don't want to speak to your particular circumstance TheOnlyCoolTim, because I know nothing of it. But I would say: No. Absolutely not. We should not 'conduct our judicial processes in secret'. The public record is there and it is necessary. This site lists a bunch of traffic violators as criminals because of decades-old offences. Some of the items seems trivial to me. Is it beneficial that this information is given to you? e.g. Other: Traffic offence, 96.6% of 32.4% of 'Other crimes'. I think not. This sort of information is grist to the mill for some and harmful to others.

By: millipede

millipede — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:49:30 -0800

Hee! I searched for my last name, wondering if I'd come up, and I didn't! But my horrendous cousin did, and boy did I laugh. Day = made.

By: quin

quin — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:03:02 -0800

We've had something similar to this in Wisconsin called CCAP for a few years now. It's really addictive at first, what with looking up everyone you know. And it will take a while for you to get over how fantastic it is, that the jerk in high school who used to hassle you all the time has been busted for DUI like three times and did a stretch for cashing bad checks. But after a while the thrill goes and you realize that you just don't care if your office mate got ticketed for speeding eight years ago. But for those concerned about the privacy aspect, there is an easy way to ensure that your name never shows up in the system: don't get caught. It's been working for me for years.

By: availablelight

availablelight — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:38:05 -0800

This is ridiculous. An old friend of mine--one of the most gentle souls I know--is listed for a "sex crime": "public indecency." He's a nudist who probably got caught on a private beach. Not listed as a "sex criminal" in the datebase: probably 90% of the date rapists in the state.....

By: chillmost

chillmost — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:10:23 -0800

that the jerk in high school who used to hassle you all the time has been busted for DUI like three times and did a stretch for cashing bad checks. More like date rape, over and over again.

By: Hal Mumkin

Hal Mumkin — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:40:53 -0800

Wow.... that's an unusual name, it looks like my Grandma's... DOB 1924, like Grandma... in my Grandma's county.... But the crime is "Other" and no details are given? How will I ever know my family's dark criminal past?!

By: desjardins

desjardins — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:01:47 -0800

Wow, there's only one sex offender in my entire zipcode, and his offense was "indecent solitication of an adult." There are 22 sex offenders in my former zipcode.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:01:33 -0800

I doubt these listings are real time like that desjardins. What it means is only one sex offender who was living in your zip code when they were arrested. Probably a good place to be a sex offender, the cops aren't on a look out for it there.