Recordable offence

A recordable offence is any offence in England and Wales where the police must keep records of convictions and offenders on the Police National Computer.^[1]

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 at least 50 non-imprisonable offences,^[2] 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.^[3]

Further police powers

Where a person has been arrested for a recordable offence, police may fingerprint and take non-intimate DNA samples from suspects without authorisation from senior ranks.^[4]

Sources

^ Kobylarz, Thaddeus. "Recordable offence - Law wiki, the wiki for law research". Lawiki.org. Archived from the original on 8 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
^ "The National Police Records (Recordable Offences) Regulations 2000". legislaton.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Retention Guidelines for Nominal Records on the Police National Computer" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 14, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
^ Gray, Andrew. "Types of offences". Trident Ploughshares legal support (England & Wales). Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2020.

External links

Text of the National Police Records (Recordable Offences) Regulations 2000 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

This law enforcement–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Kobylarz, Thaddeus. "Recordable offence - Law wiki, the wiki for law research". Lawiki.org. Archived from the original on 8 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2020.

[The_National_Police_Records_(Recordable_Offences)_Regulations_2000-2] "The National Police Records (Recordable Offences) Regulations 2000". legislaton.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[3] "Retention Guidelines for Nominal Records on the Police National Computer" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 14, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2010.

[4] Gray, Andrew. "Types of offences". Trident Ploughshares legal support (England & Wales). Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]