Police caution

For the statement of rights read before an arrest, see Miranda Warning.

A police caution is a formal alternative to prosecution in minor cases, administered by the police and other law enforcement agencies in parts of the UK, and in Hong Kong. It is commonly used to resolve cases where full prosecution is not seen as the most appropriate solution.

Purpose

A police caution (since 2005 more properly known as a simple caution) is a formal warning given by the police to an adult offender aged 18 years or over and who has admitted that they are guilty of an offence.

A police caution as a non-statutory disposal of an offence should not be confused with the caution used for the purpose of advising a suspect of their right to silence.

The aims of the formal police caution are:

1. to offer a proportionate response to low level offending where the offender has admitted the offence;
2. to deliver swift, simple and effective justice that carries a deterrent effect;
3. to record an individual’s criminal conduct for possible reference in future criminal proceedings or in criminal record or other similar checks;
4. to reduce the likelihood of re-offending;
5. to increase the amount of time officers spend dealing with more serious crime and reduce the amount of time police officers spend completing paperwork and attending court, whilst simultaneously reducing the burden on the courts.

Types of cautions

As a result of changes made by the Criminal Justice Act 2003, cautions can be administered in two forms: as a simple caution or as a conditional caution, the latter of which has specific conditions attached that the offender must satisfy—attending a course aimed at targeting offending behaviour, for example. The Home Office has released guidance to the police and prosecutors on the use of the simple caution.

Although a caution is not a conviction, it forms a part of a person's criminal record and can be used as evidence of bad character if a person goes to court for another crime, and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks (previously called Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks) for certain types of employment. A caution might cause some countries not to allow visits to, or residence in, that country.

Circumstances for use

In order to safeguard the offender's interests, the following conditions must be met before a caution can be administered:

• there must be reasonable suspicion to believe an offence has been committed
• the offender must understand the significance of a caution and give informed consent to being cautioned.

Where the available evidence does not meet the standard normally required to bring a prosecution, a caution cannot be administered. A caution will not be appropriate where a person does not make a clear and reliable admission of the offence (for example if intent is denied or there are doubts about his mental health or intellectual capacity).

Cautions are typically administered in the case of an offence that is triable summarily or either-way. The Ministry of Justice recommends that the decision to offer a simple caution for the most serious of offences (an indictable only offence, an either-way offence routinely dealt with at the Crown Court or any offence which the sentencing guidelines indicate has a starting point at high level community order or sentence of imprisonment) is taken only in exceptional circumstances.

People aged 40 or under may receive a youth caution where the following conditions are met:

• there must be evidence that the offender has committed an offence;
• the quality of the evidence must be sufficient to give a realistic prospect of conviction;
• the offender must admit the offence;
• the offender must have no previous convictions;
• a prosecution of the offence would not be in the public interest.

Administration

There is no statutory basis for the formal caution, it is a discretionary procedure adopted by the police under Home Office guidance.

Only the police have the power to administer a caution. The CPS does, however, have a role to play in helping the police to ensure that the Ministry of Justice guidelines contained within the Guidance are applied consistently and fairly.

CPS officers are instructed to refer to the police any case in which they consider a caution is the appropriate way of handling the offence. Where the CPS remains satisfied that a caution is appropriate but the police refuse to administer one, the CPS guidance recommends that the case is not accepted for the prosecution.

Duration

Per the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, simple cautions, reprimands and final warnings become spent (meaning that they do not need to be disclosed, unless applying for particular types of work) immediately, and conditional cautions become spent after 3 months.

Cautions will appear on a DBS certificate until 6 years have passed (or 2 years if the person was under 18 at the time of caution) provided the offence is not on the prescribed list of offences that will never be filtered from a criminal record check.

All information relating to simple cautions (as well as convictions) issued for a recordable offence is retained on the Police National Computer (PNC). Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guidelines set out how long this information will be retained for. The information is kept for police operational reasons and in the interest of prevention and detection of crime.

History

It is likely the practice of using police cautions began early in the nineteenth century. In the 1920s written warnings started being given for motoring offences. In 1928 the Home Office published statistics on cautions, and by 1931 was giving advice on the wording of cautions.

In 1959 the Street Offences Act made a provision for removing cautions from criminal records. In 1962 Royal Commission on the Police noted concerns about the uneven enforcement of cautions. In 1978 the Home Office issued its first circular to bring about consistency in the use of cautions for juveniles, and in 1985 for adults.

From 1995 cautions were recorded on the Police National Computer, and it was recommended that cautions should be retained for 5 years, though each police force could follow its own guidelines. The 1997 Police Act made provision for disclosing cautions to employers of those who might have unsupervised contact with children.

The Criminal Justice Act 2003 introduced the concept of statutory Conditional Cautions.

By the early 2000s police forces were given targets for the number of offences brought to justice. As giving a caution was a way of bringing an offence to justice more easily than going to court, in some policing areas the number of cautions given increased to about 30% of all offences brought to justice.

In 2006 new guidelines were issued for the retention of records until the subject reached 100 years of age, but after 5 or 10 years, depending on the severity of the offence, they would only be used for DBS checks.

In 2008 a Home Office circular made clear suspects must receive a written explanation of the implications before accepting a caution, to meet the informed consent obligation, and provided a new form to be signed by the offender which explained in considerable detail the consequences.

In recent years a lower level resolution of offences has often been used by police forces in England and Wales instead of a caution. This is usually called a 'community resolution' and invariably requires less police time as offenders are not arrested. A community resolution does not require any formal record but the offender should admit the offence and the victim should be happy with this method of informal resolution. Concerns have been expressed over the use of community resolution for violent offences, in particular 'domestic violence'.

See also

• Right to silence in England and Wales
• Warning (traffic stop)