Warning over "function creep" of DNA database
Police accused of arresting people simply to record their DNA profiles
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Tuesday, 24, Nov 2009 11:12
By Richard James.
Police have been accused of routinely arresting people simply to record their DNA profiles on the controversial national database.
A report published today claims three quarters of young black men, aged between 18 and 35, are on the database and there is a severe risk of stigmatising a whole section of society.
The findings by the Human Genetics Commission, an independent government advisory body, fuel the already heated debate about the DNA database with allegations that the record has gone from being one of offenders to one of suspects.
Britain possesses the largest DNA database in the world, with some five million profiles.
Professor Jonathan Montgomery, commission chairman, warned the database had suffered a "function creep" since its creation in 1995.
"It's now become pretty much routine to take DNA samples on arrest, so large numbers of people on the DNA database will be there not because they have been convicted, but because they've been arrested," Professor Montgomery said.
New government proposals will place a time limit on how long profiles of people who have not been charged or later cleared can be kept, in most cases six years.
However, there are concerns that there currently no plans to curb the number of samples being taken by police officers in England and Wales.
Isabella Sankey, of Liberty, is quoted by the Times newspaper as saying: "Not only are we stockpiling the most sensitive information of innocents who have never been charged, let alone convicted, we are also creating a perverse incentive to arrest people solely to get their details on the database."
In response to the report, a spokesman for the Home Office spokesperson, said: "Research shows no clear link between the level of offence for which an individual is arrested and the seriousness of any subsequent offence with which they may be associated. DNA samples are taken on arrest for recordable offences carrying prison sentence. The government is clear that this is the right threshold for taking and retaining DNA.
"We know that the DNA database is a vital crime fighting tool, identifying 410,589 crime scenes between 1998 and March 2009 with a DNA match and a possible lead on the possible identity of the offender.
"A set of proposals presenting a proportionate approach to DNA retention as well as the most effective way of ensuring the database continues to help tackle crime has been put before parliament in the crime and security bill for full debate. This includes placing on a statutory footing both the exceptional case procedure and the National DNA Database Strategy Board so the public can be confident in governance arrangements."