Maybe they'll find the gene for obedience...
Worried police refuse to give DNA
samples
BY DAVID TAYLOR
http://www.lineone.net/express/00/07/02/news/n0240-d.html
THOUSANDS of police officers have refused to give DNA
samples to a new Home Office database amid concerns
that the genetic fingerprints could be used against them in
paternity suits.
Police officers are also said to be anxious that their
samples could be used to check for drugs, but their big
concern is that the Child Support Agency will be able to
access the computer database in a bid to track down
fathers who shirk their responsibility.
The Home Office wants to collect DNA profiles of all
officers who come into contact with evidence at crime
scenes so they can be eliminated as suspects.
Advances in forensic science mean tiny quantities of
saliva, sweat, hairs, microscopic blood spots, semen or
even skin cells can provide virtually conclusive proof of an
alleged offender's presence at a crime scene.
It is now possible to produce a full genetic fingerprint of
someone who has merely brushed against a surface while
committing an offence.
The Home Office wants to hold samples of 75,000 officers
who might be expected to work at the scenes of crime. But
the scheme, launched in February with £3million Home
Office backing for processing and loading files, has so far
received only 21,000 samples from the officers asked to
volunteer.
The Home Office hopes it will have all of the target
profiles by the end of July, but officials have been forced
to reassure officers that their cell samples will not be used
as a means of proving they are errant fathers or to expose
them as drug users.
Peter Hands, regional manager of the DNA training project
for the Forensic Science Service, said: "Some officers are
absolutely convinced that outside agencies such as the
CSA will have access to the elimination database.
"This is untrue. A search can only be requested by a senior
officer against a specific named officer for elimination
purposes on a specific crime."
Mr Hands makes the point that every police recruit is
required to give fingerprints so forensic officers can
eliminate rogue prints from their inquiries. He added: "The
use of the DNA database will be no different from the way
in which those fingerprints are used."
The reluctance of some rank and file officers to comply
makes a mockery of the expectations placed on members
of the public who are routinely asked to volunteer for mass
DNA screening to help police eliminate innocent people
from rape inquiries.
The rape of two teenage girls in a Surrey park earlier this
year prompted DNA testing of 12,000 on a nearby estate
and surrounding area as police hunted a local man.
Prime Minister Tony Blair consented to a swab being taken
of cells from inside his mouth last year as he promoted
moves to expand the national DNA database.
He wants all police forces to follow the example of the
Metropolitan Police where DNA samples are taken from all
suspects arrested for offences carrying a prison sentence.A
Home Office spokesman said profiles would not be checked
against existing databases to see if serving police officers
could be linked to unsolved crimes. And they would be
destroyed when officers retired.
