How to search criminal records
Most criminal records are available for viewing, although there are exceptions, such as records compiled by the Federal Government, which are not available to the general public. Be aware though that there are some private resellers who claim to offer an NCIC criminal record search and in most cases they are not authentic. The NCIC Official National Criminal History Database is administered by the FBI.
The NCIC database maintains information such as stolen property, open warrants, misdemeanors, mission persons, and felonies. An individual’s criminal ID compiled by the FBI contains information such as convictions, traffic violations, arrests, and incarcerations, which is also known as Triple-I, which is basically an FBI criminal record of arrest and prosecution.
These FBI rap sheets have compiled information provided by other federal agencies as well as law enforcement agencies in the US to identify a specific person, each person who has a criminal record entry in the Triple Index -I also have a personal FBI number. This FBI personal number compensates anyone who provides an alias or false name to a law enforcement warehouse when the person is booked.
This unique identification key is necessary as people can also give false social security numbers or a false date of birth. Please note that the information provided by Triple-I may have been obtained from the agency that arrested the person or the agency that booked the person, so discrepancies may be found regarding location, arresting agency, and the date the person was arrested.
Also available on the Triple-I index is the time and date the inmate was transferred from one correctional organization to another and may be represented as a separate arrest. Please note that the information reported is as accurate as that reported by the agencies and may also lack complete information for the arrests you list. When searching for criminal records, keep in mind that these records may or may not be 100 percent accurate.
FBI checks are also done on people who want to buy firearms, and eligibility for a firearm will depend on state law. Other than searching criminal records in NCIC databases, private businesses are not eligible to access this database for a background check. The FBI maintains the world’s largest biometric database and also includes an integrated automated fingerprint identification system.