The Republicans in the Pennsylvania State Legislature are pressing for reforms in the way background checks are conducted on applicants for casino licenses. According to an article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review House and Senate Republicans have been pushing for the background checks to be taken out of the hands of the Gaming Control Board. the legislators would prefer that the State Police conduct these background searches instead.
Democratic Governor, Ed Rendell, has endorses this measure, along with Auditor General Jack Wagner. Other Democratic lawmakers agree that reforms are necessary but wish to explore other options, before turning the responsibility for background checks over to the State Police.
I would think that most citizens would feel more secure knowing that it was their State Police conducting these background checks rather than the Gaming Board. For one thing the police are more experienced in conducting these searches and would be more inclined toward being thorough and impartial. That said, there is always the consideration that law enforcement agencies in other cities have bungled background checks on their own hires. In Los Angeles, by the time the background searches were return, responsible parties either forgot about them or overlooked them, enabling candidates with criminal records to be admitted to the police force. So there is always a catch somewhere.
The controversy over who should conduct background checks on gaming applicants in Pennsylvania arose partly when it was discovered that one applicant for a gaming license may have overlooked his mob ties. At any rate, whoever is the responsible agency, the prevailing wisdom is that governmental groups better work to coordinate their efforts in conducting background checks. Far too many incidents arise where far too many people slip between the cracks and are awarded jobs or licenses because of shoddy background searching.
Check them out before you hire. But do a decent job of it.
