The Purpose of the Guarding the West Gate Portal is to provide potential Petitioners with the tools to obtain a background review which is required by most Masonic Orders and Entities.

The Grand Lodge of New York requires that a Petitioner provide a copy of a recent Guarding the West Gate background review report attached to the Petition for Initiation and Advancement when submitted to the Masonic Lodge to which the Petitioner is seeking membership. The Petitioner shall review his background review report and after his review if the Petitioner desires to proceed, he shall place the report in a sealed envelope and attach the envelope to this petition.   

Use of Guarding the West Gate is not limited to use by New York Petitioners, but is open to all Petitioners of Masonic Orders and Entities that require a background review. Guarding the West Gate is not to be used for any other purpose other than petitioners seeking membership in a Masonic Order. If a report is needed for a purpose other than seeking membership in a Masonic Lodge or Entity please contact tiler@guardingthewestgate.com for discussion.

Let it be known that misuse of Guarding the West Gate or the reports generated by use of the Guarding the West Gate in any form may result in Criminal Prosecution as well as Masonic Investigation as well as disqualification for membership.

Guarding the West Gate requires personal information in order to provide the Petitioner with the required documents to complete the Petition for Initiation and Advancement. The Guarding the West Gate portal is a secure site. Once the background review is completed, the sensitive personal information is erased and disposed of.  No storage of sensitive personal data will occur on the site. The report will be filed/archived by your Name, Lodge Name and Lodge Number. Additionally, financial information for the payment process will not be stored or archived on the site. Pay Pal Pro is the preferred method of payment. A Pay Pal account is not required; Pay Pal Pro accepts all credit and debit cards. PayPal collects the payment information, processes and protects the transaction. Guarding the West Gate never sees or has access to your Credit or Debit Card information. The purchase will appear on your statement as Pasquale Imbimbo, Private Detective. Please inform your spouse of this payment so I do not have to explain to your spouse that you did not hire us to investigate her. This is not a joke and has occurred several times. Thank you.

Why is there a request for your Social Security Number? Entry of the Social Security Number is NOT OPTIONAL but required. Use of the Social Security Number ensures that we have the correct information attributed to the Petitioner. Social Security Numbers will not be archived, shared or stored in any manner; all parts of the Social Security number will be destroyed once the file is marked completed and not stored on the Guarding the West Gate Portal/Website.

TAKE NOTICE: A background review will not be run without the entry of a complete Social Security Number.

TAKE: All questions on the intake page must be answered.

You must provide the lodge name, number, city and state of the lodge you plan to petition. If a lodge name and number is not listed the process will be delayed.

Contact tiler@guardingthewestgate.com for updates if needed. There is no need to contact the Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master or the Grand Secretary for updates. They will be cooperative but must forward the contact to GTWG as the reports are confidential and they do not have access to the pending reports.

Background checks normally can be completed in 5-7 days.

The nature of the background review is a search of the public records and social media attributed to the Petitioner for criminal and arrest history as well as review of sexually related crimes data bases. Guarding the West Gate does not review financial information or conduct credit checks or contact credit bureaus. Bankruptcies, Liens and Judgments do show on the report but having such does not preclude your petition from consideration. The final report will not include dates of birth or un-redacted Social Security Numbers. The financial value of the liens, judgments and bankruptcies are not included on the final report. Liens, judgements and bankruptcies that are dated longer than five years from the date of request are not listed.

Let it be known that all Petitions for Initiation and Advancement are reviewed by an appointed committee of Three Lodge Members referred to as the Investigation Committee.  The Petitioner may also be contacted by a NorthStar Coach. The Petition and background review report will be reviewed. If a criminal or arrest history exists, you, the Petitioner will be contacted and allowed the opportunity to offer an explanation and surrender the circumstances under which the incident occurred. Hence, depending on the severity of the incident, an arrest or conviction may not preclude your Petition as being looked upon favorably. The contents of your background review will not be discussed in any open or public meetings and is restricted to use by the three persons appointed to the Investigation Committee, this is the reason the Petitioner is directed to place his report in a sealed envelope and attach the envelope to his petition for indication and advancement. Once the Investigation Committee has completed the Investigation the Background Report will be returned to the Petitioner.

What is NorthStar? The NorthStar Project is The Grand Lodge of New York’s initiative for meeting and mentoring new Masons in the State of New York. The NorthStar link may be found at the bottom of the Grand Lodge of New York web page. https://nymasons.org/site/northstar/

Very often, background reviews will be as large as 60-125 pages and may be as small as 1-5 pages, Guarding the West Gate is only concerned with criminal history, arrest history and derogatory matters. We will review and analyze the raw data and generate a standardized report with all discoveries and derogatory information listed and will provide the sources where the information was found.

The key word in the Petition for Initiation and Advancement Process is "HONESTY." Being honest and upright in the Initiation and Advancement process will carry you much further than deception. Falsification of a petition for initiation and advancement will cause the petition to be immediately disqualified. If falsification of a petition for initiation and advancement is discovered after the petition has been processed and the incitation and advancement is in progress or has been completed an Investigation by the Law Enforcement Committee may be convened and may result in Masonic charges, suspension or expulsion. “Honesty” will get you further than deception. You must list all arrests, convictions and matters where you were a defendant in the information page of the request for your report. Traffic citations, tickets or summons are not required to be disclosed.

Guarding the West Gate reviews all Sex Offender Listings. In the matter of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York being listed on a Sex Offender Data Base System may lead to disqualification for membership.
 
Petitioners should list known arrests and convictions, and the location where they occurred on their Petition for Initiation and Advancement also. We are concerned with traffic, but keep in mind DWI and DWI are not traffic but misdemeanors. Please list all arrests and convictions, include dates and location of arrest and convictions listing the matter was decided in Federal Court, Military Court, State, County or local.

Once Guarding the West Gate completes the requested background review and emails the report to the Petitioner, the Petitioner should review the report for accuracy, if there is a discrepancy discovered, the Petitioner should contact the Tiler at tiler@guardingthewestgate.com.
If there are no discrepancies and the Petitioner desires to proceed, the Petitioner should place his report in sealed envelope and attach the sealed envelope to the sealed Petition for Initiation and Advancement if you desire to proceed.

If a discrepancy is discovered, please contact tiler@guardingthewestgate.com and you will be contacted for discussion.

Take Notice, Guarding the West Gate will not store any secure order information. Our secure checkout is processed & protected by PayPal Pro or Square. Guarding the West Gate will never have access to the Petitioners Credit or Debit Card Information.

CLICK HERE FOR Frequently Asked Questions.