NCJ Number
207669
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 66 Issue: 6 Dated: October 2004 Pages: 150-152
Date Published
October 2004
Length
3 pages
Annotation
After reviewing the nature and benefits of DNA technology in criminal investigations, this article discusses the role of corrections agencies in providing input to DNA databases, documents the extent of DNA backlogs, examines why the backlogs exist, and notes the promising benefits of President Bush's DNA initiative.
Abstract
Recent advancements in DNA technology have improved law enforcement's ability to use DNA to solve old cases. Newer DNA analysis techniques can yield results from small samples of biological evidence invisible to the eye. The usefulness of DNA evidence depends upon the maintenance of an ever-expanding database of DNA information to which DNA evidence from new and old crimes can be compared. States and the FBI store hundreds of thousands of potential suspect DNA profiles in convicted-offender DNA databases. A computer software system called CODIS operates local, State, and national databases of DNA profiles of convicted offenders, unsolved crime-scene evidence, and missing persons. Newer DNA technologies, broader offender DNA collection statutes, and forensic casework demands have created a backlog of DNA samples waiting to be analyzed. It is estimated that there are between 500,000 and 1,000,000 convicted offenders whose DNA samples remain to be collected. Prisons and jails throughout the country are a critical component of the Nation's DNA database system. The vast majority of DNA sample collections are managed by corrections departments, jails, and juvenile facilities. President Bush has called on Congress to fund a 5-year DNA initiative intended to eliminate both convicted-offender and forensic investigative DNA backlogs.