Criminal files

A criminal record ( KA ) - also known as a police file or criminal record - is a person-oriented file that the police use to document this particular person. It mainly serves to avert danger (e.g. in the case of compulsory admissions ), but also in criminal proceedings and self-protection (e.g. information on gun possession ).

Whether a criminal record is kept on a person can be seen from the criminal record evidence (KAN).

The KAN can be accessed via the federal and state police information systems (e.g. INPOL / POLAS). The KAN system is a computerized, personal crime file indexing system. This also contains administrative data (e.g. for the timely separation of files and data deletion ).

Criminal files are created person-related and location-related, i. H. There is one criminal file for each person and the area of responsibility related to the crime (in the case of a supra-local inspection, a large number of files can be kept on a person at different police stations).

The contents of the criminal records are governed by decree and to police investigation results and -anhalte, facts, interviews , reports , forensic reports, documents the fingerprinting treatments (with digitized ED treatment only evidence) reports, opinions, references, memoranda, data analyzes judicial, or public prosecutor's decisions, observation protocols, data of those involved in the proceedings (co-accused, informants and experts), correspondence , the reference number of the judiciary and the outcome of the court proceedings, information on peculiarities about the person and other findings.

Modern administrations provide their criminal files with barcodes and manage them via EDP.

Criminal files are mostly stored centrally at the regional police headquarters , in metropolitan areas with the state police at the presidential level and stored in a criminal record record ( KAN ). These departments are known as the "record-keeping department". Services that are responsible for hiring individual groups are called “group owners”.

Criminal files also contain notifications about the outcome of legal proceedings (see MiStra ). However, the entries in the criminal record initially remain in place - except in the case of an acquittal due to proven innocence - if there is still a suspicion in the matter, unless the person concerned objects and the objection is allowed.

Criminal files can also be viewed by lawyers under certain conditions ( file inspection ).

A criminal record is checked for further necessity after certain, legally established deadlines. If the check shows that there is no longer any need for storage, the file is separated out, i.e. H. destroyed. This does not apply if new illegal acts were committed within this period that are threatened with punishment or cases of danger prevention have occurred.

The Bavarian Police alone have 1.31 million data records stored in the KAN .

Criminal files

See also