Public Criminal Information
Public criminal information contains records about a certain criminal or criminal activity within a community or state. Sex-offender registration allows the public to review or know a registered sex offender lives in the community. Law enforcement agencies require convicted sex offenders to register within the community they live in. If a sex offender moves to a different community, he must register there within a set amount of time. State law enforcement websites post sex offender registries available for public viewing.
Other People Are Reading
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Websites
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Research a local, county, state or federal law enforcement or other judicial website to search for the criminal information. Most police or court records can be obtained through these sites like traffic reports or sex offender registrations. All police reports, even county, state and federal records are subject to the Freedom of Information Act, which allows citizens to request or review these documents at any time. If a criminal record or other information has been sealed (a court order to protect the criminal's information), then this information will not become public until a public trial begins. Once the trial begins and the information introduced into the trial, the information becomes a public record.
Third Party Websites
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Third-party websites provide access to some criminal information for a fee. These websites utilize the Freedom of Information Act and store a lot of criminal and court records in their databases. The websites require membership and likely a monthly or annual fee in order to review the information requested. However, this can be an easy way find exactly what is needed and be able to store the information on a home computer for a later reference.
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Judicial Databases
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Visit a judicial branch (court house) or a law enforcement agency and request to view the criminal information. Most records in these facilities are storea on site for up to 20 years. After the 20-year mark, they may have to store it in a warehouse or transfer the information to a microfiche disk. This information is still open to the public for viewing, it just may require going to a different location and waiting for the information to be found.
Juvenile Records
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Anticipate some restrictions when dealing with criminal acts involving minors. Juveniles' information, like their names and addresses, are omitted from the record for their protection.
Criminal Alerts
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Other criminal information law enforcement thinks is important to share with the public usually posts in a community newspaper or on the agency's website. For example, a scam involving mail fraud. Law enforcement will explain the scam and steps the public can take to protect themselves. The agency also places contact information in case someone in the public has more information concerning the scam.
Freedom of Information Act vs Privacy Act
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Validate which information is protected by the Freedom of Information Act and other information that is protected under the Privacy Act. Not all information concerning the criminal will be protected. Only information the criminal has had approved by the judge ruling on the case will be protected. A subpoena to review the information in its original form can allow the criminal information to be reviewed. But in order for this to be accepted, the request has to show justification for doing so.
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References
- Photo Credit blue police lamp image by green308 from Fotolia.com
