Uber is extending its hand to nonviolent criminals in California.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the ride-hailing service is easing up on its driver screening requirements, paving the way for the opportunity for non-violent criminals who have already served their prison sentences in the state to be employed by the company and hopefully rebuild their lives for the better.
Uber's chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, told the Journal that this means the company will no longer reject those who committed non-violent or non-sexual offenses, naming petty theft or check fraud as examples.
As part of the plan, Uber also plans on educating criminals with felony convictions about how they can reduce their conviction to a misdemeanor by submitting an application by November 2017.
"This is an opportunity for us to engage with the community," Sullivan told the Journal. "We should all be in favor of giving everyone a fair chance."
By loosening up on its driver screening requirements and giving non-violent criminals a chance, Uber is also seemingly making its driver background check more transparent — something that critics of the service have harped on.
To that end, Uber tells the Journal that its background checks are as good, if not better, than those used by taxi companies, and that it utilizes a service called Checkr Inc., which goes back seven years into prospective drivers' histories, pinpointing their addresses and convictions over that duration.
