I remember those days.

Parents of my generation can look back upon the summer ritual of flagging down the ice cream man as a fond memory. A quarter bought a red, white and blue Bomb Pop. Ice cold to the touch, you tore the wrapper off, tossed it to the street, squealed in delight when your tongue momentarily stuck to icy goodness and smiled brightly as your lips turned a bright red or blue.

Mom or dad may have watched from a distance as you made your purchase. Most likely they didn’t bother. They had nothing to fear. In those days everyone trusted the ice cream man.

Times change.

Struggling in an age of paranoia, parents today will march right out to the truck, make the purchase, eye the ice cream man with suspicion and keep their kids out of reach. Public perception of the ice cream man has turned sour. Perception is reality and every ice cream man is a potential pedophile. One need only look at the battered truck, peeling labels and smoke belching from an exhaust pipe.

Times change, indeed.

Recently, Tennessee lawmakers decided to study background checks for ice cream truck drivers over the summer. According to an article at CommercialAppeal.com there is need “to work out matters such as who should pay for the background checks, who should conduct them and penalties for violations.”

Any employee of any company should go through a comprehensive background check that includes the following:

* Social Security Number Trace

* County Criminal Records Search

* Motor Vehicle Records Search

* Nationwide Background Check

* Sex Offender Registry check, both statewide and national

The same should hold true if the truck is operated as an independent contractor. Anyone that interacts with children in a potentially unsupervised way MUST be background checked. The legislature in Tennessee, or any state, should mandate a thorough background check as a part of the licensing process.

A thorough criminal background check as part of pre-employment screening or even post-hire screening is a low cost endeavor when compared to the incalculable human cost that could occur.

Thomas Kenney is a web writer based in Southern California. His primary interests are creating safe environments for at-risk populations and works through his company, PreScreen Solutions, to achieve that.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Kenney

Some only allow you to search by counties. While others are more detailed, allowing you to search by street. Most can be found by clicking on a link for your State Police website.

Sex offenders are not the only criminals lurking in your neighborhood. Would you want your child playing near the home of a convicted drug felon?  Probably not. But where can you find information this information? The internet is littered with “free public records” sites. After clicking on these you will be given a form to fill out and mail in to obtain your information.

Today’s technology is so great that most of us are a little spoiled. We don’t want to wait. We want to download our information now! Your daughter is getting married and you want to know if her fiance’ has any type criminal history? Please wait 7-10 business days for a response. Really? There are several different programs available online that offer you instant answers. Most have a membership fee. Although I believe that most people will not mind spending a few dollars to ensure that they’re children and family members are safe in their community.

Click Here!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_Haskins

Proactive vs Reactive Notification

Megan’s Law does not require that law enforcement authorities actively announce to the community in general that registered sex offenders have moved in. As a matter of fact – the main method of notification, is that they have a website that you can access that shows the name, address, and sometimes location on a map, the addresses of registered sex offenders. You have to ask for the information.

The Monterey County Sheriff Department (CA) has taken a more proactive stance. Proactive meaning that they will notify you as soon as a registered sex offender changes locations, or moves into the area. All you need to do is register at their department for the information. There are a handful of other police agencies across the US that provide a similar service.

For me, the proactive approach is much better. I know that I can check back from time to time and get my own updates, but what if I forget this month, or a couple of months? The problem is, I don’t live in Monterey County, or another county that has the service, so I need another way.

Your Own Proactive Choices

There is a service on the internet that provides you with updates whenever a registered sex offender moves into your neighborhood. You register with the site and choose the red alert option and you can be informed via email whenever a registered sex offender moves in near you.

I have heard of that service before, but it isn’t free. It is called the National Alert Registry. It costs $4.95 a month. So my question is this: Is it worth less than $0.17 a day to you to protect your family? Whether or not you want to use the service is not the issue. The main thing is to stay informed and protect your family. If you choose to do the checking yourself, contact your local law enforcement agency to get their internet site and check it often.

Barry Dunn, EzineArticles.com Expert Author
Protecting Your Kids From Sex Offenders on Squidoo

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Barry_Dunn

But first, let me tell you a little story. I know a single mother who was looking for a house. Her main requirement was that it had to be safe for her children. After months of looking she found the perfect house on a cul-de-sac in a great neighborhood and the price was right, too. After moving in one of her neighbors stopped in to welcome her to the neighborhood. One comment from the neighbor got her attention, though. She said she really admired her bravery.

Naturally my friend was curious what that meant. After pressing the neighbor she told her that her new next door neighbor was registered sex offender. That’s why the house had been priced so low – because nobody wanted to buy it because of the sex offender. And that’s why the previous owner was desperate to sell. And apparently the the offender really liked young children.

Needless to say my friend was frightened. She couldn’t turn right around and sell the house so she ended up installing a new fence and alarm system. And her kids never left the house without her. That’s no way to live. And it’s a shame because it is so easy to perform a sex offender search. And it doesn’t cost anything.

Thanks to the internet and the need for people to be aware of their surroundings the government has made it much easier to find out if offenders are lurking in your neighborhood or wherever you may be moving. And it will tell you exactly where they live and include photos. I know my wife was shocked the first time she did a search to find out how many offenders were near us. Of course this is for information purposes only, it does not give you the right to camp out on their lawn or otherwise harass them. You may want to but it is against the law.

Not all details are included on the sites. It won’t necessarily tell you their exact crime but will give you a good idea of what they may have done. And having this information could have saved my friend a lot of grief and money. So how do you search? It really is easy.

Go to Google or your favorite search engine and search for “Sex offenders in [your state]“. This should show you the state site where you can find everything you need.
Do you really know who’s living next to you?

David Lemon is the owner of TDL People Search. You can visit his site at http://www.tdl-people-search.com where you can search for anyone you’d like to find as well as perform background checks.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Lemon

Well, chances are there are sex offenders in your neighborhood You may be surprised to know how many are living in your area. Chances are great that there are more than one living within a one mile of your home. I can tell you that I live in a nice, middle-class neighborhood, and there are 8 sex offenders in my neighborhood. It doesn’t matter if you live in a wealthy or poor neighborhood, sex offenders live in nearly every city and town. They are everywhere.

The best way to find out if there are sex offenders in your neighborhood is to do your research and keep up-to-date. There is a nationwide database of more than 500,000 registered sex offender records. It can be searched online, with instant results. Search results contain details about the sex offenders in your area, including names, aliases, photos, home addresses, and offense details. The registry provides a mapping system which provides detailed maps of all registered offenders in the area of your search. When new sex offenders move into your area, you will get an email with red alert details about any new offenders that have recently moved into your neighborhood.

Ok, I know where the sex offenders are living in my neighborhood… now what?

You will want to use your information to protect your family and your neighborhood. Now, I’m not saying to take matters into your own hands and confront the offenders. This will only serve to antagonize the offender. But, if you have a neighborhood association it would be a good idea to let them know. Let the association send a letter to the offender letting them know that the neighborhood has been made aware that he/she is living among them. Distributing a picture of the sex offenders to the residents of the neighborhood will let everyone be on alert and aware if the offender is doing anything suspicious in the area. Let the offender know that the neighborhood families will be vigilant in protecting their children. Chances are, if the offender were to commit a repeat offense, they will not chose to commit the offense in an area that they know is being watched and monitored carefully.

Be responsible, be alert and be informed. Knowledge is power. Don’t just asked yourself, “I wonder if there are sex offenders in my neighborhood?” Arm yourself with the knowledge to know exactly where the offenders are living in your neighborhood at all times.

Would you like to check the national database to find out what sex offenders are living in your neighborhood? Visit [http://www.sexoffenderswatch.info] to access the database right now.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tracy_Wineberg

How do I know if there are sex offenders in my neighborhood?

Well, chances are there are sex offenders in your neighborhood You may be surprised to know how many are living in your area. Chances are great that there are more than one living within a one mile of your home. I can tell you that I live in a nice, middle-class neighborhood, and there are 8 sex offenders in my neighborhood. It doesn’t matter if you live in a wealthy or poor neighborhood, sex offenders live in nearly every city and town. They are everywhere.

The best way to find out if there are sex offenders in your neighborhood is to do your research and keep up-to-date. There is a nationwide database of more than 500,000 registered sex offender records. It can be searched online, with instant results. Search results contain details about the sex offenders in your area, including names, aliases, photos, home addresses, and offense details. The registry provides a mapping system which provides detailed maps of all registered offenders in the area of your search. When new sex offenders move into your area, you will get an email with red alert details about any new offenders that have recently moved into your neighborhood.

Ok, I know where the sex offenders are living in my neighborhood… now what?

You will want to use your information to protect your family and your neighborhood. Now, I’m not saying to take matters into your own hands and confront the offenders. This will only serve to antagonize the offender. But, if you have a neighborhood association it would be a good idea to let them know. Let the association send a letter to the offender letting them know that the neighborhood has been made aware that he/she is living among them. Distributing a picture of the sex offenders to the residents of the neighborhood will let everyone be on alert and aware if the offender is doing anything suspicious in the area. Let the offender know that the neighborhood families will be vigilant in protecting their children. Chances are, if the offender were to commit a repeat offense, they will not chose to commit the offense in an area that they know is being watched and monitored carefully.

Be responsible, be alert and be informed. Knowledge is power. Don’t just asked yourself, “I wonder if there are sex offenders in my neighborhood?” Arm yourself with the knowledge to know exactly where the offenders are living in your neighborhood at all times.

About the Author

Tracy Wineberg