Lib Dems criticise 'shambolic' DNA database
Kablenet.com
Published: 04 Dec 2008 07:30 GMT
The Liberal Democrats party has said it has evidence that the DNA database is not helping to solve crimes.
The party has released research, compiled from a series of answers to parliamentary questions, that it said indicates the shortcomings of the database.
Among the findings are that, at the end of March this year, 2.3 million criminals — 41.6 percent of those with a record on the Police National Computer (PNC) — were not on the DNA database. Altogether, there are 3.26 million records on the database, compared with 5.58 million on the PNC.
At the same time, the number of crimes solved using DNA evidence fell by nearly 11.7 percent last year. A total of 17,614 crimes were solved using DNA evidence in 2007-08, compared with 19,949 in 2006-07 and a peak of 21,098 in 2002-03.
The Liberal Democrats also highlighted findings that about 850,000 people on the DNA database have no criminal record, and that, since its creation, details on more than one million children have been added.
The party's shadow home secretary, Chris Huhne, said: "The government's policy is both shambolic and grotesquely unfair. Because it has proved easier to target kids and the innocent than criminals, the enormous increase in DNA samples has not led to a corresponding increase in convictions."
"Nobody who committed a crime before 2001 and who has evaded arrest since then will have their records on the computer, so many real crooks are avoiding detection," said Huhne. "The random growth of the database is due to a policy of incompetence, combined with intrusiveness. The police should target former criminals, not the innocent."
"All the innocent people on the database will be outraged that they are being treated worse than nearly half of all convicted criminals. Ministers should focus on tracking down the serious offenders not on the database, rather than preying on the vulnerable and the lawful," he added.
A party spokesperson told GC News that details of all people not convicted of a crime should be taken off the database immediately, and that the Liberal Democrats party wants a national debate about how children are treated with regards to the database.
"If they are under 16 and don't commit any sexual or violent offence, why should the state be able to keep their DNA record for ever?" the spokesperson said, adding that they could be placed on the database for something as trivial as stealing a bar of chocolate.
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