Taking Risks With Census Takers
[Guest post by DRJ]
Alabama Senator Richard Shelby is unhappy because the Census Bureau apparently hired criminals to collect personal information:
“After two cases of alleged criminals going door-to-door to take surveys, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby said Monday that the U.S. Census Bureau must do more to prevent hiring census takers with a criminal background.
In a letter to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke sent Monday, Shelby wrote that when he asked Locke during a Senate hearing last year about guidelines to disqualify applicants, including sex offenders and people who’ve committed crimes against children, he was told the measures would ensure “each applicant is an acceptable risk to collect census information from residents of a community as a representative of our government.”
“It is inconceivable that the Census Bureau could be so poorly managed as to hire a convicted sex offender to go door-to-door to collect personal information,” Shelby said. “Clearly, Mr. Secretary, your guidelines are not working.”
Census officials claim the system is working, albeit a little slowly:
“Frank Kuni reportedly had used fake documents under the name Jamie Shephard to pass an initial name check and receive four days of training.
But an alert resident recognized the 47-year-old from the state’s Internet sex offender registry.
Kuni, who was charged with using a fraudulent document to get government ID, was fingerprinted during his first day of training but when Census officials learned on the last day of training that Kuni had been flagged for a previous arrest, he was already out the door with his assignment, Fernando E. Armstrong, director of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Philadelphia region, told the Courier News.
He was arrested four days later.
“From our perspective, the process that was put in place and has been used across the country worked in this case,” Armstrong told the newspaper, acknowledging that an earlier return of the background check would’ve prevented Kuni from reaching the street.”
They must think we’re idiots because that makes no sense.
— DRJ
The system worked!
navyvet (206534) — 5/24/2010 @ 9:22 pm“From our perspective, the process that was put in place and has been used across the country worked in this case.”
Whoa, karma. This sentence will fit in nicely with the discussion at https://patterico.com/2010/05/24/federalizing-the-oil-spill/
I like karma.
Ag80 (b97c3e) — 5/24/2010 @ 9:29 pmand yet yours truly, with no criminal record, a perfect score of 28/28 on the screening test and five additional points from a veteran’s preference wasn’t hired at all. furthermore, the person who came to my door wasn’t, by their own admission, a vet, which would have at least been an arguable sub.
there’s a reason i call it the “senseless”. BTW: here in Lost Angels, they are paying $0.50 a mile for travel. last time i checked, that’s more than the IRS allows you to deduct for your own business.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 5/24/2010 @ 9:43 pmThe IRS deduction for 2009 was $0.55/mile!
AD - RtR/OS! (21733c) — 5/24/2010 @ 9:51 pmred – I hate to break it to you, but the current IRS standard mileage rate for business use of vehicles is $0.50 per mile.
daleyrocks (1d0d98) — 5/24/2010 @ 9:56 pmPoor old “Nando, been drinking from the ole Jimmy Napolitano “the system worked” spigot. The same J-No who recently stated that the border is as secure as it has ever been. That’s the whole point Jimmy. And that’s the problem.
The same Jimmy Nap who assured us that she tried to eat at least one ham sandwich a week*, in order to assuage fears about swine flu.
Oh yes, we are in the very best of hands…
*As if she could actually only eat one!
gazzer (7c0559) — 5/24/2010 @ 10:18 pm“The system worked” is the new catchphrase for “we don’t have anyone we want to blame,” isn’t it?
Foxfier (52d3cd) — 5/24/2010 @ 10:38 pmwell, it’s been awhile since i’ve w*rked, and you don’t get mileage on funemployment.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 5/24/2010 @ 11:02 pmBecause it took these geniuses four days to find him, or because they wanted him to finish the job first?
JVW (36eb17) — 5/24/2010 @ 11:13 pm@9
Because it never takes the cops four days to catch anybody.
————————————————-
It’s easy to blame the census bureau but they aren’t the ones who used fake id, and they aren’t the ones who do the fingerprint checks, it’s the FBI.
“I’m just concerned with this procedure that you’re giving these individuals access to your homes, possibly, and at least your personal information,” she said.
Armstrong said the fingerprint check, which wasn’t used in the 2000 census hiring process, isn’t performed until a new hire gets to training due to the criminal check’s expense and because, on average, 10 to 15 percent of those who pass the initial entrance test don’t show up for training.
Armstrong added that normally the results of the FBI background check come back before the training period has ended and workers are equipped with census identification.
I looked up the cost of an FBI records check and it is about $50. The census hired 650,000 enumerators so it spent $32,500,000 on record checks if they did those checks on the 10 to 15% that didn’t show up people would be screaming about them wasting $5,000,000 on non-employees.
Chad (582404) — 5/24/2010 @ 11:54 pmI wonder what it would take for this incompetent government to acknowledge “failure” on its part.
I fear we’ll find out at some point. ::sigh::
Alan (07ccb5) — 5/25/2010 @ 3:38 amDon’t you understand? The Obama Administration is simply helping to reintegrate former offenders back into society. This good, honest work will give the former offenders a good mark on their work history, to demonstrate to other prospective employers that they are now reformed, good and trustworthy.
This was meant to be only partially snarky.
The very sympathetic Dana (3e4784) — 5/25/2010 @ 4:03 amObama says failure is not an option, but these days it seems like an expectation.
A.W. (e7d72e) — 5/25/2010 @ 6:17 amThanks Red, I feel much better now that I realize I’m on “funemployment”.
PatriotRider (8d9a6f) — 5/25/2010 @ 6:41 amNow, suppose one of these guys reverts to form and has to be put down by a homeowner.
Richard Aubrey (a9ba34) — 5/25/2010 @ 7:06 amI can imagine the press on that one. “Murderous anti-government teabagger….”
The bureaucratic mindset is “We have processes defined and they were followed, therefore the system works. What, results, results aren’t referenced anywhere in the regulations.”
LarryD (feb78b) — 5/25/2010 @ 8:11 amWell geez guys; now that Acorn is on the skids, this is simply a re-employment agency for laid off Acorn workers. Veteran’s preference? Pah!
Mike Myers (3c9845) — 5/25/2010 @ 8:57 amAcorn Veteran’s Preference trumps all.
Our visa system “worked” too. Mohammed Atta got his visa approved six months after he flew his jet into the WTC.
But he got it.
Patricia (160852) — 5/25/2010 @ 10:42 amB+!
From the same group of people who tell you every month that even though we all see unexpected job losses and unexpected higher unemployment numbers, as well as unexpected increases in foreclosures, bank closings, deficit, trade deficit, and a failing dollar, things really are taking a turn for the better and recovery is right around the corner!
Metallica (bb58d8) — 5/25/2010 @ 10:50 amFrom the get-go, the Census was to be an avenue to fund ACORN (remember their “partnership”?), and to employ their members.
AD - RtR/OS! (bd3d6c) — 5/25/2010 @ 10:52 amWell, the NYSE is continueing on a slide, down to 9900, http://www.quote.com/home.action.
Man, this recovery is rockin’.
AD - RtR/OS! (bd3d6c) — 5/25/2010 @ 11:20 amAcorn Veteran’s Preference trumps all.
Comment by Mike Myers
Has that been documented with hard evidence? I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you’re right, documentation with the one’s fingerprints on it would be lovely.
MD in Philly (cb8efe) — 5/25/2010 @ 11:43 amMore reason not to open the door but a crack and that’s with a pistol in your pocket. Tell them your name and how many live there and slam the door in their face. They don’t need any additional information to misuse.
Scrapiron (996c34) — 5/25/2010 @ 4:18 pmwe should ban all forms of abortion because it is not right to kill an unborn child..:
Chase Peterson (7a8b57) — 8/22/2010 @ 12:12 pmAbortion must not be allowed and banned in all countries.-*
Sebastian Sanders (06b5fd) — 10/7/2010 @ 2:56 amwhat i can say is that abortion is a sin and it should be deemed illegal by all means “-‘
Hand Winch (63e5c7) — 12/3/2010 @ 11:39 pm