Saturday, July 12, 2014

Search It Online - Pennsylvania Public Criminal Records

By Ben Kingsley


Pennsylvania uses an online database system to manage it public records. The office responsible for keeping track of PA criminal records is the Central Repository of the Pennsylvania State Police. The said office also handles the database they call as PATCH or the Pennsylvania Access to Criminal Records.

The state of Pennsylvania uses PATCH to store and monitor the reports that the state receives. This includes the police arrest records which are generated by the officers for people who violated the laws. The online system of Pennsylvania even caters to users who have not registered to the system allowing authorities, organizations and even private individuals to access the records. Although, access to the arrest records of the state is open to the public, the information obtained from a public file is limited because of the criminal laws that the state of Pennsylvania has implemented.

Some information is kept private and is not available for public access. An example of this is the name of the witnesses as well as the investigator who was in charge of the case. This was done to protect the safety of the individuals involved in the incident. If the record involves a minor, such document is kept private and is only accessible by authorized individuals. In case where the case is still being investigated, the criminal record is only made open once the case has been closed. This was done to avoid any alterations on the document or bias on the decisions during the investigation.

Resident of Pennsylvania is only allowed to obtain a copy of their personal file. This means that one has to have authority in order to access the records of other people. Owners of businesses or companies and organizations as well as the local authorities are just few of the people who are given access to the documents. One has to pay $10 in order to search for the record of interest using the name. A $15 processing fee is required for a fingerprint search. Unfortunately, a fingerprint search can only be done by authorized individuals.

Aside from the online system, one can personally request it at the State Police Central Repository office of the state. Before going to the office, the state recommends downloading the form online to help speed up the process. The form has to be submitted to the said office and payment has to be made with a check amounting to $10 only or a money order. All of the necessary information has to be indicated on the form which can aid in the retrieval process. Also, the one who requested the file will be required to provide their contact details as well. This will only be used to track and document the access to the file.

Now that the Internet is used to easily get information, criminal records are now also very easy to obtain. The search online can minimized the need to go to the government office. A lot of websites offer to retrieve a copy of a criminal recd while some of this website would offer criminal records free to public users. Websites offer their free service to get more attention and convert visitors to potential customers.




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