Some people are concerned about racial profiling, given that 690 black men have been DNA tested in the hunt for a suspect in a case of a serial rapist. Police Chief Timothy J. Longo had some interesting words when speaking to the public.
From AP via CNN:
One woman in the audience asked if the police would conduct widespread testing of white men if the rapist were white.
"Absolutely," Longo said, adding that he'd do the same if a criminal suspect were Asian or a woman. "I will do them all."
He sounded pretty gung-ho about getting DNA of possible suspects. I'm wiling to bet those samples will likely stay in state labs for future reference. Deborah Daniels, assistant U.S. attorney general for justice programs, says that DNA is "the future of law enforcement in this country". In the piece below, we learn Virginia has been adding arrestees and juvenile offenders added to the state DNA database system. No convictions apparently required in the case of the arrestees.
From USA Today:
Adding profiles from thousands of adult arrestees and juvenile offenders would greatly expand the [national] DNA system's worth by increasing the number of potential matches...
"Not all juveniles are going to become adult criminals," says Paul Ferrara, director of Virginia's DNA program. "But for the few who are, the sooner we have them in the system the better."
Why wouldn't Virginia law enforcement want to keep DNA data on pre-suspects, even after they've been ruled out as suspects in a case under investigation?
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