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Houston Sex Crimes Lawyer Notes Implications of Growing Police DNA Databases

If a person gives authorities a swab of his or her DNA for any reason during an investigation, is it alright for it to end up indefinitely stored in a local police database? A recent New York Times story raises this question, as it reports that more and more local law enforcement agencies across the United States are building their own DNA databases.

Previously, only the FBI and state crime labs built these DNA databases to aid a criminal investigation. Texas, for example, has a state CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) program to organize biological evidence for sex-related offenses and other crimes. Yet, local police agencies across the country are already doing the same. Grant Scheiner, a noted Houston sex crimes lawyer, says that this has serious implications on people’s civil rights and privacy.

How exactly? As the New York Times points out, some of these DNA samples are collected into databases without the donors’ knowledge. Moreover, these local databases have their own operating rules, which may be different from those allowed by state or federal laws—a fact that makes them conceivably unregulated.

Another concern is that some local police officers collect DNA samples from far more than those who are convicted or arrested for serious crimes. While some investigators ask suspects for DNA samples, others just get them from discarded trash. Moreover, they don’t just collect them from suspects or convicts. They also obtain samples from victims, as well as people who come under the slightest suspicion.

This, of course, leads to the privacy issue. Imagine an officer going to the house of a victim of assault and swabbing the TV the perpetrator touched. To differentiate the sample from others on the device, the officer could also ask for one from the victim who is of the age of consent in Texas. Though he or she may cooperate willingly, the victim may not realize that his or her DNA swab will go into the database. It might be used for other purposes even after the immediate investigation is done.

These concerns are valid, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court decided last June that police can take an arrested person’s DNA sample without a warrant. Given this, legal experts say that authorities might be empowered to push DNA collection and data-banking even more.

Presently, few states have laws on local DNA databases. Alaska is the only one prohibiting them outright. California and Hawaii do not explicitly preclude them. Texas has laws on DNA databases, although those on local ones are still being discussed. Until a more uniform law is set, individuals are advised to always consult their lawyers if they are asked to submit DNA samples.