Fergie's Tech Blog

U.S. to Expand DNA Collection During Arrests, Detentions

Ellen Nakashima and Spencer Hsu write in The Washington Post:

The U.S. government will soon begin collecting DNA samples from all citizens arrested for any federal crime and many illegal immigrants detained by federal authorities, adding genetic identifiers from more than a million individuals a year to the swiftly growing federal law enforcement DNA database.

The new policy would substantially expand the current practice of routinely collecting DNA samples only from those convicted of federal crimes, although it would build on a growing policy of states to collect DNA from all those arrested. Thirteen states do so now, and turn their data over to the federal government.

The initiative, to be published as a proposed rule in the Federal Register in coming days, reflects a congressional directive that DNA from arrestees should be collected to help catch a range of domestic criminals. But it also requires collection for the first time of DNA samples from foreigners detained by U.S. authorities.

posted by Fergie @ 4/16/2008 04:02:00 PM