Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
LONDON, May 5 (UPI) _ A senior British police officer is urging creation
of a national data bank
made up of a DNA sample from every person in Britain.
Police Superintendents' Association President Peter Gammon issued a
statement today saying such
an official collection of samples could ``prevent a serial rapist
committing more crime.''
Gammon called on the British government to consider establishing the
database as a way of swiftly
identifying offenders.
Gammon reports Britain also holds DNA information on more than a quarter
of a million persons
charged or convicted of offenses.
And he noted ``when a DNA sample is taken from a crime scene'' there are
matches found in the
database in about 40 percent of the cases.
Without a national data bank of every person, however, Gammon says
considerable time is wasted
collecting and studying samples from suspects after a crime.
Gammon says it's ``time-consuming and can delay the progress of an
investigation.''
By his estimate, such a database could be put together in a matter of
years, but he acknowledges it
might cost more than $1 billion.
Civil libertarians oppose the move.
One pioneer in the DNA identification technology, British professor Alec
Jeffries, warns against
someone ``hacking into such a database and altering their entry, giving
them the ultimate genetic alibi
for any crime they might commit.''
In France, the National Assembly continues to consider the proposal
offered last October of
creating a national file of genetic fingerprints of only sex offenders.
French police note it was a DNA match last March that led to the arrest
of the high-profile accused
serial killer Guy Georges, known as the ``Beast of Bastille.''
His DNA profile was on police records for at least three years.
--
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