Police

• Practical information & advice
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Practical information & advice

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Information

Here you’ll find links to various parts of this site where we have information and useful resources relating to the Police.

The police can issue cautions, fixed penalty notices/Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND), cannabis and harassment warnings and community resolution orders. A useful link is:

• List of sentences/disposals (with section on police disposals)

The policy of returning property can vary depending on the police force concerned. Usually the police will write to you once the officer in charge of your case authorises the release of any property. A useful link is:

• Getting property back from the Police

To find out what is held on the Police National Computer (PNC) you will need to do a Subject Access Request. These can be applied for online and cost £10. A useful link is:

• Police records – Subject access request

These will either be recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC) or the Police National Database (PND). A useful link is:

• Criminal record databases

The Police do not do employment disclosures – they make information available to the Disclosure & Barring Service and Disclosure Scotland for them to process disclosures for employment. However, the Police are involved in doing other types of ‘disclosures’. Useful links include:

• Police certificate
• Child sex offender disclosure scheme – ‘Sarah’s law’
• Domestic violence disclosure scheme – ‘Clare’s law’

Advice

Here you’ll find some of the common advice that we give on the Police. This is based on what we’ve learnt as a charity, as well as the real-life experiences of people with convictions.

• Many people feel like they’ve been treated unfairly by having accepted a caution. Unfortunately, we’re unable to help individuals challenge cautions. As a charity, we exist for people who accept that they have broken the law, and are trying to move forward. This means that by challenging a caution, if you accept you did it, there is the potential that you end up with a conviction. However, we recognise that many people are innocent, and rightly wish to challenge their guilt – to do this, we suggest you seek legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

Here you’ll find some specific questions that we regularly get about the Police and the answers we generally provide. More detailed FAQ’s may be included in the information pages above.

Useful links

Here you’ll find links to useful organisations and websites related to the Police that we refer to in our information and advice. Contact details for the organisations listed below can be found here.

• ACRO Criminal Records Office
• National Appropriate Adult Network
• Independent Police Complaints Commission

Discuss this with others

Read and share your experiences of this on our online forum.

Key sections include:

• Getting property back from the police