How to run a background check on your nanny?

For today’s Throwback Thursday, I’d like to stress the importance of background checks.  Background checks are not only for a prospective employee or new business partner, but to protect your most valuable asset and prized possession, your child or children.

I was interviewed by the New York Daily News about How to run a background check on your nanny, which was precipitated by the senseless murders of two young children (Leo and Lucia Krim) on the Upper Westside in 2012 by their nanny (Yoselyn Ortega), who had been with them for over a year.

Nanny background checks are not inexpensive, especially if the nanny is not from the United States.  But these are your children we are talking about, some of which cannot communicate or articulate if anything terrible was happening to them, because they are so young.

My recommendation is always, if your nanny is going to be alone with your child, you must run a thorough background investigation. No ifs, ands, or buts!

My tips on hiring a nanny from the New York Daily News article on How to run a background check on your nanny.

1. Hire a professional private investigator
Skip the internet deals boasting $99 background checks. “What they do is check databases and not actually criminal histories,” Ruskin said. Use a firm that can look up criminal records, DMV records, verify someone’s social security number and check out immigration history if they’re from outside the country.

2. Don’t rely on references
Nannies won’t give you the number of someone they don’t want you to call. “You have to be sort of moronic to give a reference that’s going to [be negative],” Ruskin said.

3. Consider a Nanny Cam
The hidden cameras are becoming more common for parents who want to keep an eye on their kids — and their nannies — from their work computers.

4. Tell your nanny you’re running a background check
Oftentimes, potential nannies back out before they’re hired when they learn you’re running a check — consider this a red flag, Ruskin said.

5. Consider a quality control check
It’s extreme, but a private investigator will follow your nanny or potential nanny to see exactly what he or she is doing with your children. Keep in mind, while a routine criminal background check costs about $100 and takes less than a day, this type of investigation can run up to $2500 and requires more time.

6. Work with a nanny agency
Agencies usually run their own background checks, but be sure to get an actual copy of the report. Nannies with something to hide typically avoid agencies.

Read the original New York Daily News article: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/run-background-check-nanny-article-1.1192964#ixzz30P5dVjkM

Throwback Thursday – My NYPD Days before I started CMP Protective and Investigative Group

A clip of my interview with Samantha Ettus about my days in the New York City Police Department before I started CMP Protective and Investigative Group in 1999.

“Today’s guest is a security expert extraordinaire whether it’s terrorism, or in your own backyard. Tom Ruskin joins us today to talk about security.

Samantha Ettus: So your job fascinates me, it’s the stuff of TV shows, but it’s your life, tell us a little bit about it.

Tom Ruskin: Left the City of New York to start a security and investigation firm.

Samantha Ettus: You weren’t working for the DMV, what were you doing for them?
Tom Ruskin: I was one of the people responsible for the crisis management of New York City. On a daily basis I was running to fires, shootings, major incidents, plane crashes, in the City of New York. I came up through the ranks of the police department.

I started with the department of investigation in New York City and investigated corruption and misconduct.

The training is very intense, I think we have to start there. The training for a police officer is probably the most intense training of any police academy in probably anywhere in the world. They train you in every single thing that you could see as a New York City Police Officer. When you’re in the academy, you don’t know if you are going to the Upper East Side, which is a pretty nice place to be. Or if you are going to Harlem, or if you are going to Bushwick Brooklyn, or if you are going to Crown Heights, you are going to a terrible place. Not so much that it’s a terrible place to be, because there are people that are trying to live their lives there, but the crime is higher than other areas in the city.
Samantha Ettus: So it’s kind of like they throw you into situations you don’t know what to expect.

Tom Ruskin: Correct, and they train you for any of those situations. They are training the new rookies in how to fire heavy weapons, which is never been done before. They are going to be firing an abbreviated M-16 which is what our military carries.”