Professional Screening & Information

Conducting a legal court defensible background investigation can seem to be complicated and cumbersome because of all the laws that regulate the background investigation industry. This does not mean employers should avoid conducting background investigations. It simply means that they should be careful as to who they select as their background investigation provider.

PSI is committed to respecting the privacy of the information we collect and disseminate to our clients. We comply with all federal and state laws for obtaining consumer reports. Our background investigation reports meet the legal maxim of due diligence, thus making them legally compliant.

Work place violence

	Thirteen people die each week because of workplace violence (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2000).

	Workplace violence accounted for 18% of all violent crime between 1993 to 1999 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2000).

	Data from the National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS) between 1992 and 1996 indicates during each year U.S. residents experienced more than 2 million violent victimizations while they were working or on duty (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1998).

Work place fraud

	The cost of employee fraud is about $400 billion annually (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 1998).

	According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiner's Report to the Nation 2002, sticky-fingered employees siphon off 6 percent of corporate revenues-which amounts to $6 billion each year, or $4,500 for every full-time worker in the United States. The ACFE attributes 85.7% of total losses to employee misappropriation of assets, which has jumped 4.6% since 1996. Of that, expert's estimate 90% is embezzlement. The median loss per incident is $80,000, up $15,000 since 1996 (HR Magazine, October 2003).

	According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiner's survey, the average cost of embezzlement by non-managerial employees is $60,000; for managerial employees it's $250,000 (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 1998).

Negligent hiring

Over 30% of all business failures are the result of negligent hiring (U.S. Chamber of Commerce).

Criminal information

	One in every 32 adults in America is under some form of correctional supervision (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001).

	The states with the largest percentages of adults under correctional supervision are Georgia (6.8%), Texas (5.0%), and Idaho (4.9%) (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001).

	In 2002, 69% of all felons convicted in State courts were sentenced to a period of confinement--41% to State prisons and 28% to local jails. Jail sentences are for short-term confinement, usually for a year or less in a county or city facility, while prison sentences are for long-term confinement, usually for over a year in a State facility (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002).

	Sixty-nine percent of those convicted of a felony in State courts are sentenced to incarceration. Forty-one percent are incarcerated in prisons, and 28% are incarcerated in jails. Thirty-one percent of those convicted of a felony are sentenced to probation (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002).

	State courts sentenced 31% of convicted felons to straight probation with no jail or prison time to serve (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002).

	Seventy-two percent of robbers in State prison committed the crime outside their neighborhood (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1991).

	Among probationers sentenced to a period of correctional supervision in the community, 52% had been convicted of a felony, 46% a misdemeanor, and 2% for infractions listed as other (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001).

	Nearly 2 million probationers and 459,000 parolees were discharged from community supervision in 2000. During the same year, 15% of probationers and 42% of parolees who were discharged from supervision were re-incarcerated because of a rule violation or new offense (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001).