Post by Shuftin on Sept 8, 2006 11:39:00 GMT -5
August 24th, 2006
The FBI has begun permitting police investigators to pursue some criminal suspects by tracking the DNA of close relatives who have been convicted of other offenses.
A study published in May in the journal Science concluded that such "partial-match searches" could greatly increase the number of cases solved through the FBI's Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS. The system solves crimes by matching genetic profiles drawn from blood, semen and other forensic evidence to a database of convicted criminals and other people who have been arrested.
Near-match searching, however, is drawing fire from privacy activists, who say it places innocent relatives of criminals and non-relatives with similar DNA profiles under a form of genetic surveillance.
"It's a major privacy intrusion in the life of families," says Tania Simoncelli, who studies DNA database issues for the American Civil Liberties Union in New York City. "And we're effectively expanding the already huge (DNA) databases to include potentially hundreds of thousands of relatives and non-relatives. It's the worst kind of privacy intrusion."
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey says the FBI has given him the name and other identifying information of an Oregon felon whose DNA profile shows that he is a "likely" close relative of a man who raped a woman in Denver in 2003. Morrissey plans to use the information, he says, as an "investigative lead" to identify the Denver suspect.
The case is the first time the FBI has permitted near-match information to be shared between states, Morrissey says.
"I've got a brutal rapist out there and a very traumatized victim," he says. "How can I not pursue a lead?"
Morrissey dismisses the idea that such searches violate privacy rights. "Law enforcement always is investigating people who are later proven to be innocent and exonerated," he says. "This is no different."
CODIS is made up of DNA profiles from convicted offenders and in some cases arrestees collected by all 50 states and the federal government. As of June, the 12-year-old system held more than 3.5 million DNA profiles and had solved or aided more than 36,000 cases, according to the FBI's website.
The system compares DNA profiles from unsolved cases, including rapes and murders, with those in the offender database. If there's a match, the criminal's name is reported to investigators.
The new FBI policy allow near-matches, in which the DNA sequences are close but not identical, to also be reported. Investigators have the job of determining whether the near-match is a relative, then using that relative to find a crime suspect.
Near-match searching takes advantage of the fact that close biological relatives -- children, parents, siblings -- often have similar DNA profiles.
It also builds on research that suggests crime may cluster in families. A 1996 federal study found that 46% of jail inmates had a close relative who had been incarcerated.
The FBI says it has built privacy safeguards into its new policy. For instance, the bureau requires that there be a high statistical probability that the near-match is a close relative of the unknown suspect before the identity of the offender is reported.
For now, the policy applies only to matches made between states -- about 10% of all CODIS cases.
Henry Greely, a Stanford University law professor who has written on near-match searching, says the practice is likely to meet some resistance. "There's an immediate 'yuck factor' to your being caught because your brother did something wrong," Greely says. "For the public, this will take a while to settle out."
That process has already begun. In Maryland, Pearl Wilson, whose late son was a convicted armed robber, is suing to have his DNA profile removed from the database. Allowing the son's profile to be searched subjects his close relatives to "perpetual genetic surveillance" says Wilson's lawyer, Stephen Mercer.
Near-match searching already has proved valuable in cases that do not involve the FBI database. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, federal technicians examining the remains of hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania, found striking genetic similarities in two profiles. The men proved to be brothers.
In Florida, state officials have used a type of near-match searching to identify eight rapists whose DNA had been taken in connection with other crimes. Florida officials compared the DNA profiles of babies born to rape victims to the convicts' DNA to identify the babies' fathers.
The FBI has begun permitting police investigators to pursue some criminal suspects by tracking the DNA of close relatives who have been convicted of other offenses.
A study published in May in the journal Science concluded that such "partial-match searches" could greatly increase the number of cases solved through the FBI's Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS. The system solves crimes by matching genetic profiles drawn from blood, semen and other forensic evidence to a database of convicted criminals and other people who have been arrested.
Near-match searching, however, is drawing fire from privacy activists, who say it places innocent relatives of criminals and non-relatives with similar DNA profiles under a form of genetic surveillance.
"It's a major privacy intrusion in the life of families," says Tania Simoncelli, who studies DNA database issues for the American Civil Liberties Union in New York City. "And we're effectively expanding the already huge (DNA) databases to include potentially hundreds of thousands of relatives and non-relatives. It's the worst kind of privacy intrusion."
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey says the FBI has given him the name and other identifying information of an Oregon felon whose DNA profile shows that he is a "likely" close relative of a man who raped a woman in Denver in 2003. Morrissey plans to use the information, he says, as an "investigative lead" to identify the Denver suspect.
The case is the first time the FBI has permitted near-match information to be shared between states, Morrissey says.
"I've got a brutal rapist out there and a very traumatized victim," he says. "How can I not pursue a lead?"
Morrissey dismisses the idea that such searches violate privacy rights. "Law enforcement always is investigating people who are later proven to be innocent and exonerated," he says. "This is no different."
CODIS is made up of DNA profiles from convicted offenders and in some cases arrestees collected by all 50 states and the federal government. As of June, the 12-year-old system held more than 3.5 million DNA profiles and had solved or aided more than 36,000 cases, according to the FBI's website.
The system compares DNA profiles from unsolved cases, including rapes and murders, with those in the offender database. If there's a match, the criminal's name is reported to investigators.
The new FBI policy allow near-matches, in which the DNA sequences are close but not identical, to also be reported. Investigators have the job of determining whether the near-match is a relative, then using that relative to find a crime suspect.
Near-match searching takes advantage of the fact that close biological relatives -- children, parents, siblings -- often have similar DNA profiles.
It also builds on research that suggests crime may cluster in families. A 1996 federal study found that 46% of jail inmates had a close relative who had been incarcerated.
The FBI says it has built privacy safeguards into its new policy. For instance, the bureau requires that there be a high statistical probability that the near-match is a close relative of the unknown suspect before the identity of the offender is reported.
For now, the policy applies only to matches made between states -- about 10% of all CODIS cases.
Henry Greely, a Stanford University law professor who has written on near-match searching, says the practice is likely to meet some resistance. "There's an immediate 'yuck factor' to your being caught because your brother did something wrong," Greely says. "For the public, this will take a while to settle out."
That process has already begun. In Maryland, Pearl Wilson, whose late son was a convicted armed robber, is suing to have his DNA profile removed from the database. Allowing the son's profile to be searched subjects his close relatives to "perpetual genetic surveillance" says Wilson's lawyer, Stephen Mercer.
Near-match searching already has proved valuable in cases that do not involve the FBI database. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, federal technicians examining the remains of hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania, found striking genetic similarities in two profiles. The men proved to be brothers.
In Florida, state officials have used a type of near-match searching to identify eight rapists whose DNA had been taken in connection with other crimes. Florida officials compared the DNA profiles of babies born to rape victims to the convicts' DNA to identify the babies' fathers.