Long retention of DNA personal data has little to do with detecting ordinary crime
26 November 2009
2 Comments
The Human Genetics Commission Chair, Professor Jonathan Montgomery, has asked a simple question: "It is not clear how far holding DNA profiles on a central database improves police investigations?". The HGC has just published a report containing the damaging allegation that police were arresting individuals in order to populate the DNA database. Well I think I have found the answer to the Professor's question with an analysis of the Government’s own crime statistics. My answer undermines arguments for long DNA retention periods based on
