Alba2018

Hi Group

NVC have received my approved petition from USCIS.

I wish to apply for Police ACRO and on reading the form it asks about Convictions etc. I want to be as accurate as possible obvioulsy.

I've been convicted of one offense at age 16 or 17 in 1984 or 1985. I was convicted I believe receiving stolen newspapers .. a group if us were drunk .. etc etc ... I did receive the stolen papers but I did not steal them .. but whatever! I may have just gone with the crowd at the time and admitted theft and we were all fined the exact same.

I know the Court Location (about 500metres from my current home as it happens), the approx year (1984-1985), maybe the offense (either theft or 'reset' namely receipt of stolen goods), the fine was £40. Court time was about 10 minutes being told by the judge we were on a rocky path ..

The question is can I provide this vague information for Police ACRO or should I do a SAR to Police Scotland and try find firm details?

I welcome your advice once again.

civilservant

You're going to need both the ACRO and the SAR (if Police Scotland does ACROs, I can't remember)

You're going to need a letter from the people that you do your investigations with too if it turns out that no records exist any longer - and this long ago they likely do not. Just one saying that they hold no further information on the incident.

Alba2018

Alba2018

Thankyou civilservant

I received my SAR by email which took 30 days and it states.

"You requested the following information, where held, from the Scottish Criminal History System (CHS) and/ or Police National Computer (PNC):
- Antecedent information - all convictions, Fiscal Warnings, Police Warnings etc
- Pending case information

I can confirm that our searches, based on the information provided, returned no information."

I received my ACRO Police Certificate which took about 5 weeks as they requested further information.

NO TRACE

It would appear old petty offenses are expunged.

Don't over think ..... lol

BritInParis

Probably was never digitised.

materialcontroller

Just out of interest, if you knew the court location (and assuming it still exists), why didn't you apply to the court for an SAR or the Scottish equivalent of a Memorandum of Conviction?

Alba2018

The Police Scotland SAR process is simple and free via the internet so I thought the best bet was ask Police Scotland. Had the ACRO or SAR said I had committed a crime I would then have approached the Court but I did read (on the internet) court records older than 20+ years were not held locally and I'd need to contact the Information Commissioner ... seemed a long way for a short cut.

Alba2018

You are most likely correct. The PNC (Police National Computer) is digital though and I'd guess since at least 1990.

I admitted my offence in detail ~1984 but I was asked for additional information ... below is the exact sentence ...

'Other than the event mentioned in your application have you ever been arrested or convicted of an offence or ever received a caution, warning, reprimand, or NFA (No Further Action)? If so please give brief details."

I did have an interaction with Police around 1999 however I was not arrested or convicted of an offence or ever received a caution, warning, reprimand, or NFA (No Further Action) to my knowledge. I outlined the details of that event and I received my Police Certificate NO TRACE.

So I'm guessing the 1999 event was known and the 1984 may or may not have been known!?

I have no idea why they would require the 1999 event info other than it was noted on the PNC or similar.