Danish Police Mistakenly Delete 800 Serious Criminal Records

Danish police mistakenly deleted 800 criminal records from the national register. The error includes serious crimes like homicide, drug offences, and sexual crimes.

The National Police announced the finding on Thursday evening. Authorities found the new issue while investigating earlier record deletions reported in September.

The Police Administrative Centre checked all issued child protection certificates. They confirmed no issued certificates missed criminal data due to this glitch.

Authorities previously paused citizenship applications, child background checks, and weapons permits in September. They resumed those procedures after resolving initial issues.

The deleted files involve combination sentences for multiple convictions. Usually, system rules delete investigative records after 20 years.

However, severe crime records must remain until an offender turns 80. A system flaw caused these records to delete automatically after 20 years instead.

Police are now working with the National Archives to recover lost data. Not all 800 files will return, as some now qualify for deletion under normal rules.