legal advice

Getting your hands on free police records has suddenly become something that everyone wants to do. The reasons vary from checking out the credentials of a new day care provider to investigating a possible lover that you have met online.

Regardless of the reason, obtaining a criminal background check on someone is often a process that is of utmost importance. This is especially true when it comes to ensuring the safety of yourself or a member of your family.

When someone gets arrested, it is often added to what people refer to as their "public record". While this is definitely true, the real confusion begins when you try to figure out how to get your hands on such records in order to do a do it yourself criminal history report.

The only real sure fire method is to actually petition the courthouse of the jurisdiction where you believe that the person you are investigating has committed a crime. There are however, a few things that you will have to keep in mind.

1. You are not entitled to these records - In order to view someones criminal history, you will often be forced to fill out what is called an "application for information". Once this is filled out the officials will either approve or deny your request. If you are approved, it will be your responsibility to go through these records one by one until you find exactly what it is that you are looking for.

2. You may have to look in more than one place - These type of records are specific to the jurisdiction in which they occurred. Therefore, in order for you to get a comprehensive reporting of someones criminal indiscretions you may have to travel to several courthouses to make sure that the information that you have is complete and accurate.

3. Sometimes do it yourself is not best - Keep in mind that some things are best left to people that know exactly what they are doing. Many times when seeking to get free police records the reasons for seeking such records are of extreme importance. Often times the results will directly relate to the safety and well being of either ourselves or someone that has entrusted their safety to us.

While it is true that getting a criminal background check is a solid and reliable way to verify the character of someone that might give you a feeling like something is wrong. The information that you obtain very well could be worthless if you are not looking at the whole picture. Free police records that you can find on your own may very well leave out some very important pieces to the puzzle. For this reason i always advise to do your homework to ensure that the information that you are getting is both complete and 100% accurate.