• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechUber Technologies

Uber Defends Background Check Policy After Kalamazoo Shooting

By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 22, 2016, 8:20 PM ET
App Car Service Startups Continue To Irk Traditional Cab Companies And Regulators
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 12: A sticker with the Uber logo is displayed in the window of a car on June 12, 2014 in San Francisco, California. The California Public Utilities Commission is cracking down on ride sharing companies like Lyft, Uber and Sidecar by issuing a warning that they could lose their ability to operate within the state if they are caught dropping off or picking up passengers at airports in California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Photograph by Justin Sullivan — Getty Images

Jason Dalton, the man charged for the shooting of six people on Saturday in Kalamazoo, Mich., has admitted to the crimes, according to media reports on Monday afternoon.

But attention from the media and public is still on Uber given Dalton’s employment as a driver for the ride-hailing giant, including on the evening of the shootings. The company, which has been plagued by criticism over its background check practices for years, argues that there was nothing more it could have done to keep Dalton from working as a driver for its service as he didn’t have a criminal record.

“As this case shows, past behavior doesn’t always predict how people will behave,” said Joe Sullivan, Uber’s chief security officer, during a conference call with reporters on Monday. He was joined by Uber Safety Advisory Board members Ed Davis and Margaret Richardson, and senior vice president of communications Rachel Whetstone.

Sullivan added that prior to Saturday, Dalton had maintained a rating of 4.73 out of 5 from passengers and overall positive feedback, making him even more unlikely to come under Uber’s suspicion. He had completed more than 100 rides prior to the events on Saturday, the company said.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Uber has been strongly criticized for not following in the footsteps of the taxi industry and using fingerprinting as part of its background check procedures. However, the company continues to insist that its own procedures are just as safe, if not safer than if it were to use fingerprinting, because it involves checking local court documents instead of relying on federal databases, which Uber says are sometimes incomplete.

Uber executives also addressed questions over about the “panic button” recently introduced in India to help passengers report incidents by saying that the feature was devised for a market where alerting authorities isn’t as sophisticated of a system as in other places.

“In the United States, 911 is the panic button that we use and that’s the panic button law enforcement wants people to use,” Sullivan said, adding that “it would be a stretch to try to do better than the 911 system.”

But there’s still a bit of a gray area in Uber’s procedures. As executives explained, while the company immediately—”within minutes”—suspends drivers when passengers report violent incidents, it takes a different approach when passenger feedback is about the driver’s driving performance.

Instead, Uber chooses to get in touch with the driver and get “both sides of the story” because it considers feedback to be subjective. Over the weekend, reports surfaced that at least one of Dalton’s passengers that evening reported him to the police, and later Uber, after Dalton suddenly began to drive erratically. The passenger was reported to have said he had to jump out of the car because the driver wouldn’t slow down.

Uber declined to share details about the timeline of events that evening as well as complaints to authorities and Uber about Dalton, but a spokesperson did confirm to The Guardian that the passenger’s complaint came in about four hours before the first victim was killed. Because it wasn’t explicitly about violence, the complaint wasn’t prioritized by Uber’s customer response team, the spokesperson said, adding that three million Uber rides are completed daily.

During the call, Sullivan made clear that the company doesn’t intend to change its background checks or other safety procedures following the Saturday’s shooting.

About the Author
By Kia Kokalitcheva
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

Latest in Tech

DOJ
Bankingfraud
$1 billion fraud revealed with guilty pleas from subprime auto lender Tricolor
By Larry Neumeister and The Associated PressDecember 17, 2025
3 hours ago
A statue of the Oscars statuette
Arts & EntertainmentYouTube
YouTube is giving the Oscars the lifeline it desperately needs
By Dave SmithDecember 17, 2025
4 hours ago
Ray Dalio attends the Fortune Global Forum Riyadh 2025 on October 27, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (
Personal FinanceRay Dalio
Ray Dalio donates $75 million to ‘Trump Accounts’ as Scott Bessent leads ‘50 State Challenge’ to invest in America’s kids
By Thalia Beaty and The Associated PressDecember 17, 2025
5 hours ago
AIAmazon
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announces departure of AI exec Rohit Prasad in leadership shake-up
By Sharon GoldmanDecember 17, 2025
6 hours ago
Jeff Bezos attends the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 02, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California.
AIAmazon
Experts say Amazon is playing the long game with its potential $10 billion OpenAI deal: ‘ChatGPT is still seen as the Kleenex of AI’
By Eva RoytburgDecember 17, 2025
7 hours ago
Trump points his finger into the crowd from behind the presidential podium
Big TechSilicon Valley
The Trump administration says it could go after Spotify if Europe doesn’t back off American tech companies
By Dave SmithDecember 17, 2025
9 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
America's $38 trillion national debt 'exacerbates generational imbalances' with Gen Z and millennials paying the price, warns think tank
By Eleanor PringleDecember 16, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
As millions of Gen Zers face unemployment, McDonald's CEO dishes out some tough love career advice for navigating the market: ‘You've got to make things happen for yourself’
By Preston ForeDecember 16, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Innovation
An MIT roboticist who cofounded bankrupt Roomba maker iRobot says Elon Musk's vision of humanoid robot assistants is 'pure fantasy thinking'
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezDecember 16, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
AI
IBM, AWS veteran says 90% of your employees are stuck in first gear with AI, just asking it to ‘write their mean email in a slightly more polite way’
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezDecember 16, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
The $38 trillion national debt is to blame for over $1 trillion in annual interest payments from here on out, CRFB says
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 17, 2025
9 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Politics
Exclusive: After citations against Elon Musk’s Boring Company were suddenly withdrawn, federal regulators are now investigating Nevada OSHA
By Jessica MathewsDecember 16, 2025
1 day ago

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.