A recordable offence is any offence in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

where the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

must keep records of convictions and offenders on the

Police National Computer The Police National Computer (PNC) is a database used by law enforcement organisations across the United Kingdom and other Non-Law Enforcement Agencies. Originally developed in the early 1970s, PNC1 went 'live' in 1974 providing UK police forc ...

Legislation

The power for police to keep such records is contained in the National Police Records (Recordable Offences) Regulations 2000. This states that a 'crime recordable offence' is an offence which must be recorded as a conviction on the PNC. Recordable offences include any offence punishable by imprisonment, plus a number of non-imprisonable offences, such as: * nuisance communications (phone calls, letters) * tampering with motor vehicles * firearms, air weapons, knives * football offences * causing harm or danger to children * drunkenness * poaching * failing to provide a specimen of breath, and * taking a pedal cycle without owner's consent A full, lengthy, list of recordable offences is available, provided by ACPO as an Appendix to their Retention Guidelines for Nominal Records on the Police National Computer.

Further police powers

Where a person has been arrested for a recordable offence, police may

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...

and take non-intimate DNA samples from suspects without authorisation from senior ranks.

Sources

External links

* Law enforcement {{law-enforcement-stub