There’s A Reason That Sticks Around

CONTENT WARNING: Sexual Assault

I work for a government call centre that deals with Criminal Records Checks. Normally, this is fairly easy, but occasionally, we get some… unpleasant people on the phones. On this occasion, it is someone’s mother who calls.

Me: “Thank you for calling [Call Centre]; how can I help today?”

Customer: “I want to speak to a manager.”

This is never a good start, but we have to find out details before we can get a manager on the line.

Me: “Okay, we can look into that for you. Do you have a customer reference number?”

Caller: “No, this is about my son!”

Me: “Right, is your son there at the moment?”

Caller: “Of course not. What does that have to do with anything?”

Because of the details we deal with, this means that we literally can’t tell her anything. Without the applicant there to pass security questions, we literally can’t enter a file.

Me: “Okay, I’m afraid that does mean I won’t be able to look up any files for you, as we won’t be able to pass security.”

Caller: “All I want to know is why my son’s conviction for sexual assault keeps coming up on his check.”

There is a moment of silence as I try to process what I’ve just heard.

Me: “Erm… well, that is the kind of information that comes up on a check. What kind of job is he apply—”

Caller: “He’s trying to become a teacher, and this is ruining his chance at a career! I want this taken off his record right now!”

The department I work for doesn’t even control the content of records; we literally just run checks and this is the sort of information that would never be removed in the first place.

Me: “Okay, that wouldn’t really be possible due to the nature of the conviction. How old was your son when he received the conviction?”

Caller: “Twenty-five. It was nearly two years ago now.”

Me: “Right, well, all conviction information is actually held by the police, not ourselves.”

Caller: “It’s just ridiculous. All he did was touch up some stupid girl in a nightclub, and she went to the police! He didn’t mean anything by it!”

My face is in my hands at this point as I listen to these stunning leaps of logic.

Caller: “Now, every time he applies for a teaching job, it comes up on there! It’s completely ruining his life.”

One of the advantages of this job is that I am not necessarily obliged to tolerate this level of nonsense, provided I stayed polite. As my patience has worn pretty thin, I figure it is time to advise this lady of the situation.

Me: “Okay, ma’am, well, whilst I can’t go into specifics, one thing I can tell you is that sexual assault offences will never be deleted from someone’s record, and whilst they do not ban your son from jobs, his employers — especially schools — are entitled to see that information.”

Caller: “Well, I think it’s absolutely ridiculous, and I’ll be putting in a complaint. It’s not like it was a real sexual assault; he didn’t penetrate her!”

She hung up at this point, and I began to consider alcoholism as a course of action. Fortunately, calls like this were few and far between!