A controversial bill backed by the top six big city police chiefs in the state and the Texas Police Chief’s Association --which represents all other state police departments -- calls for more DNA testing of criminal suspects. The samples won't come from convicted felons, but instead from people who are arrested.
There's not much the Austin Forensics Lab can compare its DNA evidence against. The state only collects DNA samples from convicted felons or people arrested for violent crimes after their conviction.
"My job is to advocate what I think would be best to keep people safe," said Chief Art Acevedo, Austin Police Department.
Chief Acevedo stresses it’s not enough.
"The more we have in the system, the more folks can be eliminated as suspects and the more folks can be identified as the right suspects," said Chief Acevedo.
He's backing a bill which would allow the state to get DNA samples from anyone arrested and sent to jail on suspicion of a felony down to Class B misdemeanors. Class B misdemeanors include trespassing and DWIs.
"This is absurd you know? They should spend more time solving crime than trying to find more ways to bridge our rights," said Jim Harrington, Texas Civil Rights Project.
Harrington worries the program would turn the justice system upside down and could put an individual’s privacy at risk for exposure.
"Simply by saying it may help us perhaps in some infinitesimal way to solve some crime somewhere in the country is not part of our Constitutional liberty," said Harrington.
Yet solving crimes is exactly why police and law enforcement in general support the program.
"I think it would make a significant impact on being able to solve some crimes," said Cassie Carradine, DNA supervisor at the APD Forensic Lab.
The Austin lab recently matched DNA collected from a local property crime to a man convicted of DWI crime in another state. Now Austin police know who they're looking for.
If the program going before the Legislature this session is approved, all DNA samples collected and analyzed in Austin and across the state will be shared nationally. It’s part of a system referred to as CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System, which was initiated by the FBI in 1990. CODIS is intended to link suspects to cases and cases to cases.
However, the system as a whole is one that sparks a strong divide within the city.
City Councilmember Mike Martinez says the program pushes legal boundaries by taking DNA samples from suspects instead of convicted criminals. He’s upset because he says Chief Acevedo didn't talk to the city before putting his support behind the program.
There’s also division in the community.
"I think the government needs to stay out of a whole lot of stuff," said one concerned woman.
"I wouldn't mind as long as I'm not being framed. It'd be a way of stopping (my conviction), right?" said Andy Sharp, who supports the program.
"I would feel a little resentful toward the government. I feel it's a little intrusive," said Lee Gresham, who opposes the program.
According to the bill, if charges are dropped against an individual, their DNA information is supposed to be deleted from the system database. Chief Acevedo says the database could be audited to ensure its integrity.
If the bill is approved, Texas could start taking DNA samples from people arrested on suspicion of felonies as soon as 2010 and as soon as 2012 for those arrested for Class B misdemeanors.
Last year, about 870,000 people were arrested statewide on those types of offenses.
The program is expected to cost about $32 million to begin. However, with the economic stresses, some say it’s unlikely to pass with a price tag that high.
No comments:
Post a Comment