Liverpool — Last month, the Liverpool Village Board of Trustees authorized Mayor Gary White to engage the services of Accurate Background Investigations to improve the village’s oversight of itinerant vendors of merchandise, solicitors and canvassers.
“We want to be assured that these are people of good moral conduct who are going door-to-door in our community,” White said at the board’s Oct. 19 meeting.
Door-to-door rules and regulations
According to the Liverpool Village Code, every person to whom a solicitor’s permit is issued:
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shall not falsely or fraudulently misrepresent the quantity, character or quality of any article offered for sale.
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shall not blow a horn, ring a bell or use any other noisy device to attract public attention to his wares, or shout or cry out his wares.
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shall not stand or permit the vehicle used by him to stand in any public place or street for more than 10 minutes, or in front of any premises for any time if the owner or lessee objects.
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shall not create or maintain any booth or other obstruction upon any street or public place for the purposes of selling or exposing for sale any goods, wares or merchandise.
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shall not sell any merchandise within 250 feet of any school between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on school days.
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shall not enter nor attempt to enter the house or apartment of any resident in the village without an express invitation from the occupant of the house or apartment.
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shall not conduct him- or herself in such a manner as to annoy or harass any person while soliciting within the village.
“We had a recent incident in which the solicitor applied for a permit from the town of Salina, but not from the village,” he added. The village issues 30-day permits for a nominal fee.
Village Police Chief Don Morris said his department keeps track of solicitors and canvassers working in the village but believes ABI will help to gather background information on businesses and salesman who hail from outside New York state.
continued — Presently, the village application form for peddlers and solicitors asks whether the applicant has ever been convicted of a crime, misdemeanor or disorderly conduct offense, and where and when so convicted, the nature of the offense and the penalty, if any.
“For out-of-state solicitors,” Morris said, “our local background checks were insufficient, so I welcome this investigative service.”
Trustee Dennis Hebert asked whether candidates for public office or church missionaries need to apply for permits. Village Clerk Mary Ellen Sims pointed out that the village code specifically allows politicians and missionaries to visit village residences without a permit.
According to the code’s Chapter 277, “This chapter shall not apply to sales by any member of the Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of America or similar village-based youth organizations; school group; church; fraternal organizations; a duly organized volunteer ambulance or fire company or district or an auxiliary thereof; or other bona fide charity who is acting on behalf of said organization, group, company, district or corporation where the organization shall have provided notice to the village clerk at least five days before the first activity on its behalf with the dates of the activity and the name and address of the person in charge … Political activity shall be exempt from the terms of this chapter.”
Accurate Background Investigations, Inc., is headquartered at Suite 200, 100 Metropolitan Park Drive, in the town of Salina. ABI has been in business since 2004 and its operatives are licensed, bonded and insured.
The company contracts with several nationwide companies that provide accurate and up-to-date information. ABI also employs a licensed private investigator. Its clients include the town of Sullivan, Fayetteville Fire Department, NBT Bank and AmeriCU.
ABI will charge the village $25 for each background check.
