Friday, October 20, 2006

Jumping to Conclusions

I got a good laugh a few years ago when I came across a joke where a person said that John Doe is the most wanted man in America. When asked why, he said that his name appeared in almost every criminal record in the country.

Of course, John Doe isn’t exactly a person (my sincerest apologies to those who really bear the name). The name is usually given to a person whose identity is not conclusively known. Indeed, John Doe would really be the most dreaded man in the nation if he does exist and is actually the very person referred to in thousands of criminal records.

Be careful when you’re conducting a criminal record search on your own. It is highly possible that you’ll be encountering records that match the name of the person you’re investigating. However, be careful in jumping to conclusions. There are many persons bearing similar names. Check out his other personal circumstances first and see if it matches with those indicated in the record that you’ve found.

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