Should old criminal records be deleted?

Should old criminal records be deleted?

Four police forces have been ordered to delete criminal records dating back decades because they are "no longer relevant".

The Information Commissioner told West Midlands, Humberside, Northumbria and Staffordshire forces their records on four people breached data protection.

The record held by Humberside Police related to the theft of a packet of meat, worth 99p, back in 1984 when the complainant was aged 16.

The West Midlands case involved a man, now 45, who was caught using metal discs instead of coins in a slot machine when he was also 16.

Each police force involved is appealing against the commissioner's ruling.

Should certain criminal offences be removed from the record? Who should make this decision? Have you been held back by a minor offence that occured a long time ago? Do you think that criminal records should exist indefinitely?

hey me new in the debate mension
hey it's is very gud topic raised by u .i definitely think that certain criminal offences should be removed from the record , if its proved that people involved in that criminal offences were held guilty by mistake otherwise there is nothing wrong in existence of criminal record.

Nice Topic!

Well i think they shud be deleted, especially records 40 yrs old or more, of small crimes which can be ignore, bec if the criminal has done anything else, it wud have cum into notice, however if he hasnt done anything then its useless to keep the record, bec its apparent dat he has not done anything wrong in the so many yrs! 😳 However this shud be limited to certain small crimes which can be forgiven, for example stealing 100 rs which im sure wud nt effect any1 etc.. 😳

I do not think any offenses really need to be removed. So what if it is old or irrelevant now. The person did something wrong and it needs to stay in record. I find it imperative for legal record keeping.

Criminal records can be sealed and secured. For example juvenile records are sealed with limited access. A background check cannot be done without credentials.