5 FREE and quick criminal background checks (and more!) that all Florida daters should know

All that glitters on the dating scene is not gold. Some players in the dating game have scary pasts, and some people you meet could be dangerous to you.

Here are five quick criminal background checks you can do (four Florida oriented, one national) at home or on the fly that could help you determine if you should politely back away or scoot in a hurry. These are also valuable resources for people who have a reason to check someone out for business or other legitimate purposes. Having a solid first and last name, along with a middle initial or a middle name, will help in returning the most accurate and thorough results.

The titles and images below lead to related searches you can start now.

Florida Departent of Corrections databases search — This one-stop search covers felons in Florida who are on supervised probation, fugitives who have skipped out on supervised probation, released state inmates, and escaped state inmates. It also includes current state inmates, which could help you feel better about running into someone that you already know you want to avoid! Mugshots of these players and criminal details will be included in most cases, along with known aliases.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement wanted persons search — Get pictures and criminal details. And get away as soon as you can if your acquaintance shows up on this list. Then call authorities. Hair and eye colors are noted along with a date of birth and known aliases, nicknames and the name of the reporting agency, such as a county sheriff's office, 

Florida Department of Law Enforcement sexual predators and offenders search — See faces and details of people on the statewide list. The list can include people who now live in Florida who were registered sex offenders from elsewhere. The database also includes information about the kinds of vehicles and boats an offender or predator owns.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement's "worst-of-the-worst" career offenders search — See mug shots and criminal history details of people who have served their time but, because of their serious criminal backgrounds, are considered Florida Career Offenders and a public threat. Known aliases are included, along with last known addresses.

U.S Department of Justice sexual offender database — Covers registries for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and Indian Country, according to the web site. A great check for anyone who may have lived elsewhere before moving to Florida. You will have to agree to the terms at the bottom of the page before you can start a search.

A bonus sixth search that's also of national scope but doesn't return much detail is the U.S. Bureau of Prisons inmate search. It can yield basics about past and current inmates back to 1982.

All of these sites are outstanding resources that you should use and use often, as warranted. If your date comes clean with them, then your love interest must be criminal-free and safe, right?

Perhaps, but not necessarily.

For starters, someone can have a clean criminal record but still be abusive and volatile. Plus, among other factors:

• Someone could have a nasty juvenile criminal history that is not public record.
• Someone could be relatively new to Florida and have a criminal history in another state or country.
• Someone could have had a criminal conviction expunged or sealed in some cases.
• And, there's a really slim chance that someone who qualified to be found in those great free Florida criminal databases wasn't for whatever reason.

If those possibilities concern you enough, and to help ease your mind, you can pay $24 for an instant statewide Florida criminal background check online from the Florida Deaprtment of Law Enforcement. But even then, the criminal background check you paid for last week won't tell you about the ugly arrest someone logged since then.

That's one reason why the InspectaDate links to Florida county jail arrests and jail bookings are such a valuable resource, as are the InspectaDate list of Florida counties with criminal court records online. InspectaDate includes various most wanted lists for the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies. And, of course, basic search engines might shed light on past run-ins with authorities.

The law enforcement resources referenced here are huge in boosting your ability to do criminal background inspections on your date or a prospective date in Florida — and sometimes beyond.

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