It should go without saying that those entrusted with private taxpayer information should be trustworthy. So we wonder how it is possible for a Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration employee — even a temporary one — to be hired with a rap sheet showing he was convicted in Baltimore County of unauthorized use of a stolen vehicle. This same person, Isaac Rupert, was arrested Wednesday for charges related to cars disappearing from Baltimore City’s impound lot.
We believe those convicted of crimes deserve a second chance. But that is no reason to place someone with a proclivity for stealing cars in a situation making it easier for him to do so. It would be akin — albeit on a much larger scale — to asking Bernard Madoff to oversee Social Security investments.
The MVA spokesman said a “background check may have been done by the agency who hired him.” May have? Shouldn’t that be a requirement — either at the temporary agency level or by the MVA, for employment? And shouldn’t the MVA release the name of the temporary agency that hired him so that it can explain how it happened to recommend a car thief to the MVA? Employees who work at the impound lot deserve the same scrutiny too.
The MVA holds incredibly valuable information on Marylanders that could be used for more than just stealing their cars — identity theft being the second highest concern, somewhere behind national security.
It should run its own background checks on employees. That would show Marylanders that they can trust the agency they give sensitive personal information to, and make waiting in those long lines come renewal time more bearable.
