Crime Retention Rule Application
Crime Records Retention – Alignment of Crime Types to Risk Categories
In 2023 Police Scotland changed the approach to retention of crime enquiry records in preparation for adoption of a new national crime recording system. The retention rules can be found in the Crime and Productions section of the Records Retention SOP published in the Policies and Procedures section of this website. The below table must be referred to in conjunction with that document.
The retention rules see crime enquiry records aligned to High, Medium and Low risk categories reflecting the future risk posed based on the nature and type of offending involved. These risk categories are linked to retention rules in the above noted Records Retention SOP. Crime descriptions and codes noted in the table below relate to the Scottish Government Justice Directorate crime codes and will be kept up to date, along with how Police Scotland aligns them to High, Medium and Low retention risk categories.
