The Police National Computer (PNC) is a computer system used extensively by law enforcement organisations across the United Kingdom. It went live in 1974 and now consists of several databases available 24 hours a day, giving access to information of national and local significance.
Contents
From October 2009, the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) state that there are over 9.2 million personal records, 52 million driver records, 55 million vehicle records and that 185 million transactions were made in the twelve months previous. Since 1 April 2007, it has been maintained by the NPIA which inherited the activities of the now disbanded Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO). Prior to the establishment of PITO, the PNC was managed directly by the Home Office.
The PNC was started in 1974 with Stolen Vehicles as its initial database. Since then, additional applications have been implemented almost every year. The range of facilities, level of detail and potential value of information stored on the PNC has improved significantly. This has led to the PNC being more of an investigative tool rather than its original purpose of a record keeping one.
Configuration
The PNC is based on a Fujitsu BS2000/OSD SE700 mainframe with recent PNC applications held on UNIX servers. There are around 26,000 directly connected terminals and 25,000 terminals which are connected via local police force computer systems. The mainframe is connected to the end user by a multitude of ways, for high volume users (i.e. other police forces) via secure IP network, for low volume users a secure dial-up link provided by Cable & Wireless. Another connection method is via an X.25 packet-switched network, this method is being phased out. Databases for vehicles and driver licences are copied from the DVLA databases in the early morning (there is no service loss when an update is in progress). The mainframe server is located at the Hendon Data Centre with back-up servers located around the UK.
In 2005 the only back-up server was located next to Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal in Buncefield, which was the scene of a major civil emergency when it burned to the ground in December 2005. According to the Home Office the location had been assessed as low-risk notwithstanding that the site was 100 yards (91 m) from a disaster hazard and the site and its surroundings burned to the ground.
Users
Requests for access to PNC are decided upon by the PNC Information Access Panel (PIAP). The members of the panel are the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Association of Police Authorities, and the Home Office.
Organisations with full access:
Other organisations have restricted access. They include HM Court Service, Probation Service and the Criminal Records Bureau. The Royal Military Police, Royal Air Force Police, Royal Navy Police & Royal Marines Police all have access to names file only.
PIAP has defined the following organisations as non-police and has agreed that authorised users within these organisations can have Names file only access commensurate with their previously stated and agreed business needs.
Non-police organisations with access to PNC:
Databases
PNC contains several separate databases; these include:
PNC operators undergo initial training to operate the system which usually consists of a five-day course to view data and conduct simple queries. Further courses are available to expand the user's access level to update and conduct more in-depth queries. Penalties for misuse of the PNC and unlawful access of data are severe; it will likely lead to dismissal and sometimes a court appearance for breaching the Data Protection Act 1998.
A number of criminal justice partners are linked to the PNC, giving them access to the information held on the computer. About 5,000 checks are made each week through the ‘Jurors’ link, which allows Crown Courts to check whether a proposed juror has a criminal record. Previously, the Courts Service struggled to meet its target of randomly checking 20 per cent of potential jury members.
With the growth of trans-national criminality, the PNC is to be linked to the Schengen Information System (SIS) which shares certain information Europe-wide.
The Police National Computer is one of the main sources of information accessed when a Disclosure and Barring Service check is made. The Police National Computer holds indefinite records of a person's convictions and cautions which will be revealed in a Disclosure and Barring Service check. While of use in informing prospective employers as to the suitability of an applicant for a particular job, the information disclosed can show information which the applicant may think is of no relevance, such as a juvenile conviction for shoplifting where the applicant is now a thirty-year-old individual and applying for a job in a bank. Concerns have been expressed that the indefinite retention of old convictions and cautions is unwarranted.
Because of changes to legislation on 29 May 2013 DBS removed certain specified old and minor offences from criminal record certificates issued from this date. The filtering rules and the list of offences that will never be filtered are available on the DBS website.
Future
In 2002 IMPACT delivered a tactical, complementary service to the PNC, called the Impact Nominal Index (INI).
Delivery of the PND (Police National Database) commenced in May 2010 when the first forces began to load their data on to the new system. In November 2010, Northumbria Police became the first force to connect to the PND and to begin to use the new system. As from June 2011, all Home Office forces were connected and using the PND.
PND is not a replacement for PNC, instead PND provides a different type of service based on intelligence.