Boston Cab Drivers Required to Be Fingerprinted
Do you ever feel unsafe getting into a taxi with a complete stranger? You’re not alone.
By Trevor Armstrong, Marketing —
Increased Safety of Taxis
To help combat doubts and protect the integrity of drivers and passengers alike, the Boston Police Department (BPD) is adding a measure to better monitor its employees. The change involves making its background check process stricter by requiring the fingerprints off all its employees. Already, the BPD has begun fingerprinting all licensed cab drivers in the city.
This is not just a one-time thing either. Veteran cab drivers and newly recruited cab drivers will be required to submit fingerprints annually as a part of their regular license renewal process. According to Boston Police Commissioner William Evans, these new measures are designed to greatly increase passenger safety.
“When the citizens of Boston get into cab, they trust that operator to get them to their destination safely every single time,” he said. “Fingerprinting is another step we can take as a police department to help make sure that happens.”
Regulating Ride-Sharing Services
Fingerprinting has been a controversial issue following the rise of ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft. These companies conduct third-party background checks on their drivers, but they do not fingerprint them. They say there is no need to do so since they already conduct background checks.
Boston lawmakers are expected to release a new bill soon which will regulate ride sharing services including Uber and Lyft. It remains to be seen whether or not these services will be required to fingerprint.
We previously discussed some of this controversy regarding ride-sharing services when members of Congress discussed concerns over their safety. It remains to be seen what Congress will rule regarding these companies.
A Simple Way to Monitor Employees
We also discussed in the article how Converus’ EyeDetect® could easily be implemented to screen and evaluate an employee’s integrity. This is because the technology is incredibly accurate. It determines a person’s truthfulness with over 85 percent accuracy. What’s more, anyone can be trained to administer tests using the technology. If implemented, Converus’ EyeDetect could enormously increase passenger safety and protect the reputation of public transportation.
