§ Mr. Tony LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the crimes for which records are kept indefinitely by police; and if he will indicate the kinds of data held in such records.
§ Mr. Peter LloydCrime information collected by police forces, and the length of time it is kept, are matters for chief officers to determine. The Association of Chief Police Officers has published a code of practice for police computer systems which provides guidelines for the review and removal of data. A copy of the code is in the Library.
The code recommends that detected crime reports should normally be kept for no longer than six years, 51W except where legal proceedings, appeals or reviews are still pending at the end of that period. Reports of undetected crime should normally be kept for no longer than 10 years, unless relating to serious crime such as homicide, assaults causing serious injury, rape, buggery, kidnapping; serious cases of arson, robbery and burglary; and criminal use of firearms and explosives. These reports should be reviewed every five years thereafter.