Police 'arresting people just to get more samples for the DNA database'

[edam]

that's the allegation made by a copper giving evidence to the Human Genetics Commission

Scary stuff. Amounts to one in 12 of us being on the database - and an extraordinary proportion of young black men.

edam, this really is terrible and very scarey. A solicitor recently was in the newsapaper as she had been arrested, had dna taken and then told there would be no charge. As the police kept her dna on record when she went for a job she didn't pass a CRB check.... Yet she hadn't ever in her life been charged with anything.

the more people on the DNA database the better...i think everyone should be on there.

Police havent got enough time as it is , dont beleive they go around arrsting just to bump up the numbers

I don't see why innocent people should be penalised due to criminals. I am already penilised due to criminals without having my personel data held on file - to do so with how they like.

I don't doubt for a moment that at least some police will have being doing exactly this. I think it would be naive to think otherwise. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of police officers who think like daftpunk does.

Thing is, there is no real convincing evidence that putting the DNA of innocent people on a database actually does anything much to help to solve crime.

While there is real evidence that mathematical ignorance amongst lawyers, 'experts', judges and juries in relation to DNA 'evidence' has led to miscarriages of justice. Must dig out the New Scientist article on this and do a link.

Also, I suspect it leads to lazy policing. I reckon it will work much as it did when my sister was attacked - only in that case it was fingerprints. Coppers made a big fuss at the time, huge response, crawling all over her house to find evidence that would help them track down the attacker. Lots of big promises about 'we'll get him love, don't worry, however long it takes'. Months later, it turns out all they did was run the fingerprints through the national database. No match, end of investigation. Scumbag got away with it and presumably has gone on to do far worse to someone else.

Oh, and I think it's particularly chilling that we seem to have the biggest DNA database in the world. To set against the most extensive CCTV network in the world.

Are we Britons really so much more dangerous than any other nation?

Only thing George Orwell got wrong was the date.

Sure - because the police don't have enough to do as it is so they arrest people simply to take their DNA

What a load of cobblers!

I don't believe this for a minute.

I see this as Largely being that the police semi-fabricate reasons to take in people they already know as being involved in criminal behaviour - as a precautionary type of thing. "It's only a matter of time until that petty crim Joe Bloggs does something seriousk, let's get his DNA now so we've got it when the time comes"

However, this does not explain the outrageously high numbers of young black men on the database - this is a scandal.

Oh, and can I make clear I don't agree with the police arresting petty crims to addd to the database. Just that I am far more scandalised by the race issue.

The race issue is horrifying but it's an integral part of the whole thing, not a separate matter. IYSWIM.

If you knew half the stuff the police have to do on a daily basis & just how busy they are you'd realise this article us utter tripe, seriously they have better things to do then go around making arrrests purely for DNA evidence.