California's criminal records system is so poorly maintained that it routinely fails to alert officials to stop child abusers from working at schools and violent felons from buying guns.
The computerized log exists to provide an instant snapshot of a criminal past, informing police, regulators, and potential employers of offenses such as murder, rape, and drug dealing in a person's background. But nearly half of the arrest records in the database don't say whether the person in question was convicted.
Source: Los Angeles Times