Police officer fired for running background checks on dates

dating. Now most people I’m sure can understand that this would have been a tempting option had they been in the same position. Nonetheless, the significance of background screening and the important role that it plays in protecting vulnerable members of society should take away that temptation and allow you to realize the seriousness of the process. In this story, Lucy Bevan began “Googling” prospective manfriends using the Police National Computer, once the relationship she was in dissolved. Apparently, it got pretty addicting – Ms. Bevan once looked up a man 151 times in a single month. She only got caught when she let it slip to one gentleman caller that she’d checked out his personal information on the old computing machine. Now as we mentioned, it is easy to see that this was simply an innapropriate action which many would laugh at and feel did minimal harm to potential boyfriends in question. However, it was the taxpayer who had to pay for these checks and ultimatley, it’s difficult to make light of a very serious process. We’ve discussed before issues that can arise when people fail to conduct background checks, so to perform them for personal reasons seems at best foolish, and at worst unethical. Regardless, lessons will have been learnt and let’s hope an episode like this isn’t repeated.]]>