DNA EXPERT CRITICISES POLICE DATABASE EXPANSION
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The scientist who invented DNA fingerprinting has expressed concerns over the way the information is used as the Government announced there will be an inquiry into the police DNA database.
Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, who invented DNA fingerprinting in 1984, said: "When the DNA database was initially established, it was to database DNA from criminals so if they re-offended, they could be picked up.
"Now hundreds of thousands of entirely innocent people are populating that database - people who have come to the police's attention, for example, by being arrested or charged with a crime and subsequently released.
"This was not the initial purpose of the database which was originally meant to hold the DNA of convicted criminals.
"I have real concerns about the retention of innocent individuals on the National DNA Database. There are also issues concerning familial searching, where the database is used to identify possible relatives of an unknown suspect in a criminal investigation."
The professor's comments come after it was announced that the Human Genetics Commission, a body which advises the Government, will oversee a "citizen's inquiry" into the way DNA records are archived to fight crime.
The GBP75,000 project opens the possibility of criticism being levelled at the controversial system, which has already been accused of disproportionately targeting ethnic minorities and retaining details of too many innocent people.
The current UK database, which was launched in 1995, currently has the DNA records of more than four million people. The records can be stored indefinitely.
As part of the inquiry announced today, selected members of the public will collate their own evidence and research the National DNA Database.
It is being primarily funded through the Sciencewise project by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
Chairman of the HGC, Sir John Sulston, said: "We want to hear the public's views on whether storing the DNA profiles of victims and suspects who are not charged or are subsequently acquitted is justified by the need to fight crime.
"The database has a preponderance of young men with a third of all black males currently on it. And people are on it for life. On the other hand, a steadily increasing number of serious crimes, including murders and rapes, are being solved and criminals brought to justice with its help."
Sir John added: "The police in England and Wales have powers to take a DNA sample from anyone arrested or detained on suspicion of a wide variety of offences, from serious crimes like murder and rape to begging or poaching.
"These powers to take DNA without consent are much stronger than in any other country and it has been suggested that they might be extended even further, to include offences such as speeding and dropping litter. There is an important balance to be struck between individual rights and public safety and we need to know how people feel about these issues."
Beginning this month there will be six weekly sessions of the 30-strong panel in Birmingham and Glasgow linked by video conferencing, and backed up by 200 observers from all over the country.
The inquiry's conclusions, due to be published in the spring, will feed into the HGC's report to the Government on forensic use of DNA next year.
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