The NCIC number on a police report is a 10-character identifier assigned by the FBI’s National Crime Information Center to a specific record in its nationwide database. It is one letter followed by nine digits. The letter tells you what kind of record it is (a stolen vehicle, a wanted person, a missing person, a protection order, and so on), and the nine digits are generated automatically when the record is created. Officers and reports sometimes call it a NIC number; it means the same thing.
It is not your case number. It is not the code for the department that took your report. It is the tracking number for one entry in a national system, and it exists so any agency in the country can pull up the same record.
How to Tell the NCIC Number Apart From Other Codes on the Report
Police reports often carry several codes near each other, which is where most of the confusion starts. Three show up most often:
- The NIC (NCIC) number itself. Ten characters, one letter plus nine digits. This is the record ID in the national database.
- The Originating Agency Identifier, or ORI. Nine characters that identify the law enforcement agency that entered the record. The first two characters are the state, the next three the county, and the last four the specific agency.
- The local case number. Your department’s own tracking number for the incident. It has nothing to do with NCIC, though it may sit right next to the NIC number on the page.
If someone asks you for “the NCIC number,” they mean the 10-character NIC, not the ORI and not the local case number.
What the Leading Letter Tells You
Every NCIC file has its own leading letter, so the first character of the number tells law enforcement immediately what kind of record they are looking at. A “V” points to the stolen vehicle file. A “W” points to a wanted person. An “M” points to a missing person. Other files cover stolen license plates, boats, guns, and serialized property like electronics or tools; protection orders; identity theft entries; gang membership; sex offender registry entries; supervised release; immigration violators; and a known or suspected terrorist file.1Office of Justice Programs. National Crime Information Center (NCIC) – The Investigative Tool – A Guide to the Use and Benefits of NCIC
So a number that starts with V on a report about your car being stolen refers to the stolen-vehicle entry for that car. A number that starts with W on a report where an officer arrested someone refers to the warrant that came back during the stop. Reading the first character is usually enough to know what the record is about.
Why an NCIC Number Appears on Your Report
An NCIC reference on a report usually means one of two things. Either the officer ran a query against the database during the incident, or a record was created (or matched) as a result of it.
During a routine traffic stop, an officer can check within seconds whether a vehicle is stolen, whether the driver has an outstanding warrant, or whether a protection order is in effect. A query notation on your report simply documents that the officer ran that check. It does not create a permanent record about you.
The other possibility is that the report generated a new NCIC entry. If you reported your car stolen, the agency likely entered it into the stolen vehicle file, and the V-number on your report is that entry. If the report links to a warrant, protection order, or missing person entry, the NIC number identifies that specific record. In longer investigations, detectives use these entries to link crimes across jurisdictions, since a firearm recovered in one city can be traced back through the stolen gun file to a burglary reported hundreds of miles away.
How an NCIC Record Can Affect You Beyond the Report
Some NCIC records reach further than the incident that created them, so the number on your report can matter later in situations that seem unrelated.
Firearm Background Checks
When you try to buy a firearm from a licensed dealer, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System automatically searches NCIC as part of the screening. If your name matches a record in the wanted person file, the protection order file, or another file indicating you are prohibited from possessing firearms, the transfer will be denied.2eCFR. 28 CFR Part 25 Subpart A – The National Instant Criminal Background Check System The record follows you across state lines because the database is national.
Protection Orders in Other States
A protection order entered into the NCIC Protection Order File is enforceable nationwide. Federal law requires every state to give full faith and credit to a valid protection order issued by another state, and local police must enforce it as if their own court had issued it.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders The NCIC entry carries the order’s expiration date, any conditions such as firearm prohibitions, and identifying information about both the subject and the protected person.4U.S. Department of Justice. Fact Sheet – Entering Orders of Protection into NCIC You do not need to re-register the order in the new state for it to be enforced there.
If You Have Been Misidentified Because of Identity Theft
If someone has been using your identity and you have been mistaken for them during police encounters, the NCIC Identity Theft File exists to solve exactly that. When you file an identity theft report, the agency can enter your information into this file with your consent. You receive a unique password at the time the report is filed, and you can present that password during future encounters to prove you are the real person.5FBI. NCIC Identity Theft
Entry is voluntary. You sign a consent form declaring under penalty of perjury that the information is true, and you can decline to provide any element. The record can include your name, date of birth, Social Security number, the type of identity theft, and the password, and fingerprints and photographs may be stored when the agency has that capability.5FBI. NCIC Identity Theft If misidentification has been a recurring problem, ask the officer taking your report about this file.
How to See What Is in Your Record and Fix Errors
NCIC is a restricted law enforcement system. You cannot search it yourself. You do, however, have a legal right to review your FBI identification record and to challenge anything inaccurate or incomplete.6eCFR. 28 CFR Part 16 Subpart C – Production of FBI Identification Records
To get a copy of that record (commonly called a rap sheet), submit a written request to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Include your name, date and place of birth, a set of rolled-ink fingerprint impressions, and an $18 fee paid by certified check or money order. Fee waivers are available if you can show financial hardship.6eCFR. 28 CFR Part 16 Subpart C – Production of FBI Identification Records
If you find an error, there are two paths. You can contact the agency that submitted the information and ask them to correct it at the source, which is usually the fastest route. Or you can send your challenge directly to the FBI CJIS Division, which will forward it to the contributing agency for verification.6eCFR. 28 CFR Part 16 Subpart C – Production of FBI Identification Records Federal regulations guarantee this right of review and require that corrected records be forwarded to every agency that received the inaccurate version.7eCFR. 28 CFR Part 20 – Criminal Justice Information Systems
Fixing an NCIC entry tied to a specific incident works the same way. If, for example, your stolen car was recovered but the stolen-vehicle entry was never cleared, contact the agency that made the original entry and ask them to update or cancel it. The originating agency owns the record and is responsible for keeping it accurate.8FBI Information Systems. National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Having the NIC number from your report in hand makes that call much shorter.