SNET: NYC's top cop to outline DNA plan:

["Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>]

From: "Mark A. Smith" <msmith01@flash.net>
Subject: SNET: NYC's top cop to outline DNA plan:
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 18:25:12 -0500
To: Maureen <myfirst@tricor.net>, SNET <snetnews@world.std.com>, L & J <liberty-and-justice@mailbox.by.net>, David Rydel <eagleflt@bignet.net>


->  SNETNEWS  Mailing List

This From: Electric Times Union (Albany, NY), December 14, 1998
http://www.timesunion.com

NYC's top cop to outline DNA plan:
Proposal aims to use sampling as a strategy against repeat offenders
http://www.timesunion.com/news/story.asp?storyKey=2960&newsdate=12/14/98

By
RICHARD PYLE
Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Police Commissioner Howard Safir is going public with his
proposal for New York City police to take a DNA sampling along with the
fingerprints of everyone arrested -- a proposal already drawing fire
from
civil libertarians.

Safir planned a speech at a Bronx high school today to formally outline
his
plan as a strategy against repeat offenders -- especially burglars, auto
thieves and other specialists in property crimes.

"I'm asking myself how am I going to continue to reduce crime,'' Safir
told
The New York Times in an interview. Crime in New York City has dropped
by 50
percent in the last five years. The murder rate alone has fallen 20
percent
from a year ago and is expected to finish the year at the lowest level
since
the early 1960s.

Under Safir's plan, the police would take a swabbing from inside the
suspect's cheek, a standard method of collecting DNA, and put it into a
database for future reference. DNA is the unique genetic blueprint of
each
person, said by legal and forensic experts to be as reliable as
fingerprints
and far more useful in identifying individuals responsible for certain
types
of crime.

Safir's plan would require action by the state Legislature to expand the
circumstances under which DNA samples could be taken from criminal
suspects.
At present, New York state allows testing of felons convicted of 21
types of
violent crime, including murder, rape and manslaughter.

All other states have some form of database of DNA taken from felons,
and
last October, the FBI set up a long-discussed national DNA database
beginning with 250,000 names, linked to state-maintained databases. Only
Louisiana tests every person arrested for DNA, as Safir suggests for New
York City.

The genetic profile technology became widely known during the O.J.
Simpson
trial and has been used increasingly in law enforcement, both to
identify
criminals and to exonerate individuals falsely accused or convicted.

Norman Siegel, director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, has
objected
to the proposal, contending that arrest is not sufficient grounds for
authorities to collect personal genetic information, and would violate
the
Forth Amendment safeguard against unreasonable search and seizure.

Involuntary testing for DNA has been challenged legally by several
members
of the armed forces and a group of women on California's death row.

Copyright 1998, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation,
Albany, N.Y.

--------------------------------NOTICE:------------------------------
ISPI Clips are news & opinion articles on privacy issues from
all points of view; they are clipped from local, national and
international
newspapers, journals and magazines, etc. Inclusion as an ISPI Clip
does not necessarily reflect an endorsement of the content or opinion
by ISPI. In compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is
distributed free without profit or payment for non-profit research
and educational purposes only.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

ISPI Clips is a FREE e-mail service from the "Institute for the Study
of Privacy Issues" (ISPI). To receive "ISPI Clips" on a regular bases
(1 - 6 clips most days) send the following message  "Please
enter [Your Name] into the ISPI Clips list: [Your e-mail address]" to:
ISPIClips@ama-gi.com  .

The Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues (ISPI) is a small
contributor-funded organization based in Victoria, British Columbia
(Canada). ISPI operates on a not-for-profit basis, accepts no
government funding and takes a global perspective.

ISPI's mandate is to conduct & promote interdisciplinary research
into electronic, personal and  financial privacy with a view toward
helping ordinary people understand the degree of privacy they have
with respect to government, industry and each other.

But, none of this can be accomplished without your kind and
generous financial support. If you are concerned about the erosion
of your privacy in general, won't you please help us continue this
important work by becoming an "ISPI Supporter" or by taking out
an institute Membership?

We gratefully accept all contributions:

  Less than $60    ISPI Supporter
          $60 - $99    Primary ISPI Membership (1 year)
      $100 - $300    Senior ISPI Membership (2 years)
More than $300    Executive Council Membership (life)

Your ISPI "membership" contribution entitles you to receive "The ISPI
Privacy Reporter" (our bi-monthly 12 page hard-copy newsletter in
multi-contributor format) for the duration of your membership.

For a contribution form with postal instructions please send the
following
message "ISPI Contribution Form" to ISPI4Privacy@ama-gi.com .

We maintain a strict privacy policy. Any information you divulge to ISPI
is kept in strict confidence. It will not be sold, lent or given away to
any third party.



-> Send "subscribe   snetnews " to majordomo@world.std.com
->  Posted by: "Mark A. Smith" <msmith01@flash.net>