History of the CHS
In 1979 a report was produced highlighting the need for a computerised and centralised system for recording information on criminals.
The idea behind this was to give police officers more immediate access to information than was available with a paper based records system. Previously it could take weeks for information to come back from the record offices of different force areas, and on occasion, the information would be incomplete or the request for information could be lost altogether.
So between 1983 and 1987 work was carried out to convert the entire paper based criminal history system into an electronic database.
Following installation and rigorous testing in 1988 the computerised CHS for Scotland became operational. The added advantage was that this provided a link into the Police National Computer (PNC) via an interface (Phoenix Force Interface) allowing officers in Scotland to retrieve information from the Police National Computer. The PNC is the national criminal database for England and Wales.
This new electronic system removed the time delay and inconsistencies. Without the computerised system the job of effective policing would be very slow and difficult to carry out.