NCJ Number
180989
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 27 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2000 Pages: 34-38
Date Published
January 2000
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Even though DNA is an accepted identification tool for crime investigation and its use is accepted and welcomed in court, there are issues that have to be addressed before DNA collection and evaluation is used like fingerprints are today.
Abstract
There is not enough money to accomplish what everyone wants to accomplish, i.e., an up-to-date DNA database that is available to every law enforcement department across the country. Some say that allocating more money for such a project is the answer, but others argue for privatizing the system. Under a privatized system, private labs would obtain and process DNA samples in a more cost-effective way. Still, farming the DNA work out to private labs would cost significant amounts of money. The National Commission on the Future of DNA Testing has recommended that Federal monies be provided to States to eliminate the backlog by outsourcing to private labs. Once the database is up-to-date, integrating new samples will be a relatively quick process, and the worth of a current database would be seen immediately. Before DNA can be used effectively, however, privacy rights issues must be addressed, and the backlog of DNA samples must be alleviated. It would not help to require DNA samples to be collected from every arrestee like fingerprints; this would cripple an already limping system. The first step is to allocate more money to deal with the DNA samples already in the system. Once this has been done, the collection of additional samples can begin.