I am 34 year old woman and was accused by a store manager that I stole a piece of clothing from the store.in fact it is a piece that I brought to the store to exchange it with another but I didn't have the receipt.the police didn't lay charges but he didn't let me take the piece of clothing.I called the police department the next day toask about the incident and was told that nothing in the record about that and didn't know the name of the cops who dealt with that incident.however,is this considered prior dealing with the police in negative term?cause I have an issue now with the police and want to know if I want to use the diversion program or not ?so what is a prior dealing and why is it on the record still if no charges were laid or no conviction took place?

i called the police department the next day toask about the incident and was told that nothing in the record about that

You say there was no record here?

so what is a prior dealing and why is it on the record still if no charges were laid or no conviction took place?

But here I think you are saying it is...
If there is no record than you should me in the clear in the future. I'm not sure if you mean you are on record for dealing with the cops? as far as i know any dealings with cops don't matter as long as charges weren't pressed against you and you did not have a hearing.

No there is no official "dealing" with the police. To get a diversion program they want to know you were not convicted of any other crimes.

Well the last question about so" what is a prior dealing and why is it on the record still if no charges were laid or no conviction took place? "talks about a different case than mine .sorry,I didn't clarify it properly.the question is :would the police keep a record for a case if there was no conviction in the court?can the police use this information against me later on?and what about the fingerprints and pictures,how long do they stay in the system?

The only thing that shows up on your record are convictions. I am not aware how long your fingerprints and picutures stay in their possession. There was specific issues that a dealt with the cops about a few times. Because I never pressed charges, the person was never charged and his record was clear. I'm pretty sure you are in the clear :)

Fingerprints stay in the FBI system forever, along with fingerprint of anyone arrested, anyone applying for gun permits, anyone becoming a teacher or a scout leader, it is just a fingerprint data base.

Now here is where I am confused, if you were not arrested, they would not have taken your photo and your fingerprints, did they arrest you and latter let you go?

But again, the ONLY thing that concerns a diversion program is prior convictions.