MANDATORY DNA TESTING?

Police Group Seeks Samples Of Jailed Suspects

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The International Association of Police Chiefs
says it will urge Congress to require that DNA samples be taken from
every person arrested in connection with a crime. Civil rights
advocates say that could violate the privacy of innocent people.

Typically, DNA samples are taken only from felons convicted of violent
crimes.

But the chiefs on Wednesday proposed that all arrested suspects also
should be required to give DNA samples, which would go into a
nationwide FBI database and be made available to law enforcement
agencies across the country.

"It's indeed a brave new world," Barry Steinhardt, associate director
of the American Civil Liberties Union, said Thursday. "We're talking
about people who are accused of a crime, but they have not yet had
their day in court. A sizable number of them will never be convicted."

In July, the Justice Department's National Commission on the Future of
DNA Evidence decided to oppose mandatory DNA testing for anyone
charged with a crime. However it urged federal and state prosecutors
to use DNA evidence that could exonerate convicts.

DNA, which contains an individual's genetic makeup, is found in almost
every cell in the body. Except for identical twins, each person's DNA
is unique.

The chiefs did not say what their proposal would cost, but they called
it another step forward in DNA technology, which has been credited
with clearing dozens of people convicted of murder and rape in recent
years.

"With modern technology, we can do a much better job of protecting our
citizens and exonerating the innocent," said Michael Robinson,
director of the Michigan Department of State Police and incoming
association president.