Illegal immigrant became sheriff despite background check

background check when he applied to be a cadet at the age of 14 in 2005, Sheriff’s investigator Bill House said last week. It is quite an astounding discovery to see such a breach of trust for a position of lawful authority. Wilmar Arnulfo Perez, 20, was charged with a felony count of criminal impersonation of a law enforcement officer and misdemeanor counts of theft by receiving and possession of a blue light after he allegedly pulled over motorists dressed as a sheriff’s deputy. House said that when he entered the cadet program a background check was conducted through the state computer system and he was found to have a valid Arkansas ID and “nothing else appeared.” “This time, apparently using new technology they have now, when we ran his fingerprints through the FBI database who ran it through ICE, it showed there was a hold on him.” House stressed the department does mandatory background checks on all employees, including the cadets. If convicted, Perez could face up to six years in prison on the felony charge and up to one year in jail on the misdemeanor counts. While it is astonishing that such a mistake could be made in law enforcement, this reminds us just how important it is to continue staff testing once job applicants are hired. It’s imperative that you run a pre-employment screening check – but don’t stop at that. Continue to run checks on your staff regularly, as you never know what you might have missed the first time. Reach out to Mind Your Business today for more information of employment screening. If you’re not currently screening your employees, you really are putting your business at risk. Get in touch to find out more!]]>