Profile backgrounding
Public records are one way to find information. But we have also surrendered huge amounts of personal information to the web. And unfortunately, the Internet never forgets.
So what lurks on all those pages? Not even Google's search engines may know. The algorithms for search engines track information on the Surface Web. They do not -- for various reasons -- index pages on the Deep Web.
Gosh, that sounds mysterious and a little dangerous. What's on the Deep Web? (Mostly Facebook pages. But also email, bank accounts, public records databases.) The Deep Web is not synonymous with the Dark Web but neither are indexed by search engines. The Deep Web is estimated to be several hundred times larger than the Surface Web.
Once upon a time, aspiring sleuths and journalists had to scuff up their shoes, visiting government offices, paging through old phonebooks, and knocking on the doors of neighbors. (Even in this age, those remain good skills.)
But the internet has changed how journalists 'background' a person. Now, once-hidden information is only a few clicks away. Let's look at how we can use the web to research subjects. Let's start with criminal justice records:
Write down the name of one inmate and the charge.
Each day, the Pullman Police Department publishes an online log of activity in the city. Look at the most recent activity log. How many people were arrested? List one charge against a person arrested in the past 48 hours.
Campus police officers publish their log here. Review the log for Saturday and Sunday. How many arrests were made?
Each year, the Pullman department issues an annual report, which can be found here. List two of the significant events last year.
Local crime statistics are here. How total incidents were reported? How many sex offenses? How many alcohol offenses? How many gun permits?
Statewide data found here. Click on Whitman County and open the document in Excel. How many rapes were reported in the most recent year? How many arrests were made for rape?
How many burglaries were reported? How many arrests were made for burglary?
Look at the statewide numbers -- how many reported rapes and arrests? Reported burglaries and arrests?
To dig deeper, let's go to the Uniform Crime Reports in the state's Statistical Analysis Center. Search for Whitman County.
Compare the crime rate in Pullman, Colfax and Palouse.
When police believe a crime occurred, they can forward that information to the county's prosecutor, who will decide whether to charge the individual with a crime. We can track Whitman County court activity here.
Finally, let's look at how to conduct a criminal background check in Washington state.
Here's an example of a rapsheet.
Let's look at your profile subject and conduct a more thorough examination of them.
As always, use these tools for good, not evil.
Answer these questions about your subject:
* Does he/she have a criminal record? If so, list arrests and convictions.
* Find an image of your subject. Post a link.
* Find a phone number for your subject.
* Find a current or past address for your subject.
* Find a relative (parent, sibling) of your subject.
* Search Whitman County assessor records to see if your subject owns property in the county.
* Find your subject in the state voter database.
* Find your subject on Twitter or Facebook.
* If your subject is on Facebook, use Graph Search to find "Photos of ..." and "Photos by ..." Take a screenshot of one of the images.
* Find the names of two Facebook friends of your subject.
* Find the names of two people who live in the same town as your subject.
* Find the names of two people who work at the same location as your subject.
Each day, the Pullman Police Department publishes an online log of activity in the city. Look at the most recent activity log. How many people were arrested? List one charge against a person arrested in the past 48 hours.
Campus police officers publish their log here. Review the log for Saturday and Sunday. How many arrests were made?
Each year, the Pullman department issues an annual report, which can be found here. List two of the significant events last year.
Local crime statistics are here. How total incidents were reported? How many sex offenses? How many alcohol offenses? How many gun permits?
Statewide data found here. Click on Whitman County and open the document in Excel. How many rapes were reported in the most recent year? How many arrests were made for rape?
How many burglaries were reported? How many arrests were made for burglary?
Look at the statewide numbers -- how many reported rapes and arrests? Reported burglaries and arrests?
To dig deeper, let's go to the Uniform Crime Reports in the state's Statistical Analysis Center. Search for Whitman County.
Compare the crime rate in Pullman, Colfax and Palouse.
When police believe a crime occurred, they can forward that information to the county's prosecutor, who will decide whether to charge the individual with a crime. We can track Whitman County court activity here.
Finally, let's look at how to conduct a criminal background check in Washington state.
Here's an example of a rapsheet.
Let's look at your profile subject and conduct a more thorough examination of them.
As always, use these tools for good, not evil.
Answer these questions about your subject:
* Does he/she have a criminal record? If so, list arrests and convictions.
* Find an image of your subject. Post a link.
* Find a phone number for your subject.
* Find a current or past address for your subject.
* Find a relative (parent, sibling) of your subject.
* Search Whitman County assessor records to see if your subject owns property in the county.
* Find your subject in the state voter database.
* Find your subject on Twitter or Facebook.
* If your subject is on Facebook, use Graph Search to find "Photos of ..." and "Photos by ..." Take a screenshot of one of the images.
* Find the names of two Facebook friends of your subject.
* Find the names of two people who live in the same town as your subject.
* Find the names of two people who work at the same location as your subject.
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