ACRO Criminal Records Office

The Police National Computer (PNC) is a system that stores and shares criminal records information across the UK.

Law enforcement agencies use it to access information that will support national, regional and local investigations.

ACRO provides PNC services to support the criminal justice work of a range of organisations including:

Non-police prosecution agencies
Regulatory bodies
Government agencies
Non-departmental public bodies
Foreign embassies in the UK

ACRO’s PNC services are provided for the purpose of ensuring these agencies are able to:

Create and manage PNC records about people being prosecuted where the offence must be recorded on the PNC

Meet court requirements by providing criminal conviction information about defendants or witnesses in cases that go before the courts

Conduct security checks on roles not covered by the Disclosure and Barring Service

Conduct criminal record checks on people who are subject to a misconduct investigation by a regulatory body or who are facing disciplinary action as part of a fitness-to-practice hearing.

ACRO offers two main services to meet the above requirements:

Conducting enquiries against names on the PNC
Creating and managing records on the PNC

Before ACRO undertook this work, it was either not done or agencies relied on police forces to facilitate their requests.

By centralising this work, ACRO has made it more efficient, provided a consistent delivery and reduced the burden on forces.

ACRO does not provide agencies with direct access to the PNC.

Names enquiries

Names enquiry checks are carried out on the agency’s request.

ACRO only discloses information that relates only to a subject’s convictions, cautions, warnings or reprimands.

ACRO only discloses this information for the specific purpose of supporting prosecutions and legal proceedings, security checks, misconduct proceedings or fitness-to-practice hearings.

ACRO does not disclose general information on the PNC.

ACRO does not disclose PNC information to a requester unless there is a positive, confirmed subject ID match based on the information the requester provides.

Information is disclosed within a timescale determined as part of a service level agreement.

Record creation

When bringing a prosecution, agencies can ask ACRO to create a record on the PNC on their behalf.

As part of this process, ACRO provides the agency with an arrest summons number (ASN), which is required to bring a defendant to court, and the relevant PNC prints to meet the requirements of the criminal justice system.

As well as creating the record, ACRO manages it and keeps it updated from the start to the finish of the prosecution process, ensuring information is recorded in a consistent and timely way.

Other services available to non-police agencies

Updating PNC records with current information
Converting historical records held on microfiche and adding them to the PNC
Circulating warrants when a subject is wanted
Conducting overseas conviction checks

Please contact us for further details of these services.

Information sharing agreements

ACRO only provides PNC services to a non-police organisation where a legal basis to share information has been established.

All ACRO’s PNC services are underpinned by information sharing agreements with individual organisations. Go to publications to see the agreements we've published.

Please contact us for further details.

Requesting PNC services for your organisation