The US is tops in many things. That's why we're looked up to by other nations. But one top position that we can surely do without is our incarceration rate. Greater than 1 % of American adults are under lock-up, that's more than 2 million people, outnumbering countries with far larger population like China and India. That's not even including ex-inmates and those incoming ones. Based on statistics, a good number of these people will return to their old ways and continue to pose as societal threat when they get out.

Public due diligence to address the problem have been deployed wherever possible and feasible. But with the danger at the scale that it is now, we cannot be too careful about it. Fortunately for us, the government is upfront and transparent in regard to this ill. Just as well, because we are also transparent by way of the Law in public information access. Yes, one good measure we can adopt in going about our lives with our eyes open for bad company is through Police Records.

Police are known to be excellent record keepers. Every interaction with the police will trigger the generation of a report that goes on official record. It can be anything from armed robbery to traffic violation, gun permit to address change and so forth, they have it all on file. They are hence very useful in providing information about someone especially if they are a threat to other people.

Police records are public records and they are available free of charge from respective police departments. Free Public Police Records can be requested by mail, telephone, fax, in person or even online. Although they are technically public records, they can contain sensitive and private information and as such become restrictive in its access and use. While it can serve people well, these folks are well-advised to ascertain its permissibility with professionals or authorities as they can vary from one jurisdiction to another.