Spectrum Security Group does background checks on coaches

Athletic coaches with a shady past are no match for one Draper company that aims to protect children.

Spectrum Security Group once focused on runaway teenagers, fraud cases and cheating spouses.

Now the background screening company is turning its attention to athletic coaches and youth organizations, ensuring adults in leadership roles carry a clean history.

Called the safe youth check, the service includes a nationwide search through millions of records, checking sex offender registries and criminal records.

It even provides for Social Security verification.

"Our system checks for patterns in people's behavior," said Jon Syrett, president of Spectrum Security Group. "We are not only looking for sexual predators, but those individuals with unscrupulous pasts. In addition, our system will help protect coaches and organizations against false accusations through our misconduct investigations."

Syrett, who holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and has been involved in the security and fraud industry for most of his life, said organizations like Ute Conference Football and Nephi City Parks and Recreation have enlisted his services.

"Nationally, it is done everywhere," Syrett said. "We found that the state of Utah was lacking in that area. There is so much time spent during the sports season with these kids that we're just offering that extra level of assurance. Nothing is 100 percent guaranteed, obviously."

Since the February launch of safe youth check, softball, baseball and even hockey leagues have contacted Spectrum Security.

Gary Matsuura, commissioner of Ute Conference Football, said Spectrum Security provides a more thorough search at a lower cost compared to other background check providers.

Past felonies are definitely a red flag, but Spectrum also offers alerts for certain misdemeanors.

"This is our first year, and they've done a pretty good job," Matsuura said. "I've had other people come in and say, 'You're looking at $20 to $25 per background check.' Spectrum Security charges $15 plus furnishes the badge."

The badge is worn by coaches during games, signifying the coach has passed a background check and participated in a coaches' clinic.

The Ute Conference Football league has 29 districts with 8,400 children ages 8 to 15 years. Syrett has conducted searches on roughly 1,200 of the conference's 3,200 coaches.

When not working on background checks, Syrett spends his time searching for runaway teenagers.

"We have about a 98 percent find ratio when it comes to the runaways," Syrett said.

"There's a lot of runaways out there who are not only being supported by adults but by literally an underground world where they get taught how to survive without getting caught, how to live and where to get their money."

---

E-mail: danderton@desnews.com