When Palm Beach Community College announced it would begin conducting investigations of its faculty, it was like closing the barn door after the horse had been stolen.  The announcement followed revelations that a horticultural professor liked on his application when he failed to disclose he had been convicted of child molestation in Illinois in 1986 and was sentenced to six years in a state prison.  Even worse, the professor’s past history emerged as he was to be honored with the college’s teacher of the year award.  Finally, the professor, a former Catholic priest, was part of the college’s  “Dual Enrollment Program,” which meant that he taught at local high schools.

   I need not dwell on the damage to the school’s reputation following this incident.  However, even the most basic check on Walter M. Weerts’ criminal history would have revealed the charge and subsequent conviction.  

  This is just one example of the importance and usefulness of a background investigation, and how it can make and educational institution feel more secure regarding the honesty and integrity of the individual being considered for employment.  A background investigation provides an objective assessment of the individual’s reputation, as well as criminal, civil, financial, employment, and other histories.  It also provides an organization with the ability to learn embarrassing facts about a job applicant before making a hiring decision.

  Before discussing what to look for in a private investigator, it is important to be clear exactly what encompasses a background investigation.  The investigation should include the individual’s employment background; civil and criminal history (including pending litigation); a financial snapshot that covers collections, judgments, and bankruptcies; and the individual’s personal history, accompanied by an assessment of reputation and character.  In short, it is a dossier of an individual that should provide the client with the necessary information to make an informed hiring decision.

   In considering the above, it is important to look for certain capabilities and approaches in a private investigator.  Specifically, the investigator should meet the following three criteria.

   A good investigator should have access to a database with state, national, and international capabilities that includes identification, driving, civil and criminal (including bankruptcies and judgments), and property (including liens) records.  Such a database should compliment publicly available information and the internet.  This information not only provides the investigator with a preliminary sense of the individual that is based on accurate information, but it also raises potential red flags or trouble spots that may require further investigation.  The client should ask about such capabilities, with the objective of seeing how clearly the investigator links specific information assets to the client’s specific requirements.

   Also critical is access to human sources to fill intelligence gaps.  Real people answer question that analysis, which can only infer the logical next step, cannot.  For a background investigation, a good investigator would not only use names found in the preliminary search to conduct targeted covert collection of information but would develop and investigate names not listed for interviews and other inquiries.  These carefully selected individuals should provide accurate and objective answers to the client’s requirements.  They should also be the most effective choices to answer questions related to the potential trouble spots found in the analysis, and to discuss areas the client wants additional emphasis.

   The investigator should additionally have the ability to apply targeted human intelligence collection means using appropriate covers.  Because many private investigators are former law enforcement officials, they are used to being able to obtain information through the sheer force of the badge.  For the intelligence officer, no such support mechanism exists.  Thus, what law enforcement does through intimidation, intelligence officers do through cover and subtlety.  Employing cover has the advantage of putting the interviewee at ease, thus making him/her more comfortable to provide information.  Additionally, the subject does not have to know the true reason for the inquiry.  This deflects suspicion from the real purpose of the investigation.  Such an approach helps to ensure the client receives accurate, objective information from knowledgeable sources. 

  The client should be prepared to turn over all documentation to the investigator.  The client should also expect complete confidentiality from the investigator.  Finally, the client should have the investigator work through his/her attorney.  This lets the attorney keep the investigator’s role under wraps, and controls dissemination of the findings. 

  With the potential for damage to a school’s reputation upon learning of a faculty member’s past, not to mention the danger of incurring a lawsuit, it is wiser and easier for a school to know about past problems before making a hiring decision.