subject: Police Records -- How To Get Them For Free [print this page] According to Reuters, as of 2009, one in every 31 US adults is part of the us prison system, including anything from probation all the way up to jail. This is twice as high as it was 25 years ago, and currently the US has the largest prison population in the world. Also, it doesn't help that prisoners are committing crimes soon after they get released only to be imprisoned again.
We as citizens react to this in many ways. Most don't really give it a second thought. It's eye-opening to find out what's available out there though. There's a lot people can do if they want to determine what sorts of records people in your area may have. A viable option is police records.
It's possible to get a lot of information about folks in your general area with the help of police records. This can help you determine who may be a threat, and who may not be a threat in your life. You can find out a lot from police records. They're not just about whether you've been arrested. You can expect to find information on anything that might pass through the police department about an individual such as permits, emergencies, traffic stops, things of that nature.
Although there can be restrictions from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, there police records are available for free to anyone. Some will ask you for certain things before they hand over access. Signatures, fingerprints, and even consent are just some of the things that various districts may require you to do to get access to the records.
A search like this is normally simple, but if your search covers a number of jurisdictions, the amount of time you spend on it can really add up. One other way to handle it is to use the Internet. Finding and using databases on line that allow you to search the jurisdictions of your preference isn't difficult. Searching for the information you need couldn't be simpler. Some databases are totally free, but there not that complete, and sometimes inaccurate as well. You'll find that the most accurate and complete services you have to pay for.
Another thing has to do with discretion. Consider the case that a jurisdiction requires authorization before accessing the data. If the other party found out they'd become suspicious of you becoming suspicious. Knowing what you know now, would you change anything? Would you have looked into the past of certain individuals close to you?
