Previously called the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO), it established in 1960 with a mission statement "To manage information for the Scottish Police Service, wider Criminal Justice Community and the public to assist in the prevention and detection of crime and enhance public safety.
The high-profile Shirley McKie case has embroiled the SCRO in controversy surrounding its provision of fingerprint identification and verification services.
In May 1999 the Scottish High Court of Justiciary rejected the SCRO fingerprint evidence, and Shirley McKie was unanimously found not guilty of perjury.
A former Deputy Chief Constable of Tayside Police, James Mackay QPM, and Tayside's head of CID, Detective Chief Superintendent Scott Robertson, were then appointed by the Crown Office to conduct a further investigation into the issues relating to fingerprint evidence and to report back with their findings.
Mackay's interim report on 3 August 2000 suggested that SCRO fingerprint personnel had given evidence in court that was: According to a Scottish Executive Justice Department internal email written by senior official, Sheena Maclaren: Marked 'confidential', the final Mackay and Robertson report was submitted to the Crown Office in October 2000.