Mandatory British DNA Database Rejected

BBC
February 23, 2008

Calls to put the DNA of every UK resident on a national database are impractical, the government has said.

A senior police officer has argued for a universal register, after two killers were convicted on DNA evidence.

Sally Anne Bowman’s killer, Mark Dixie, and Suffolk serial murderer Steve Wright were both captured because their DNA was taken after unrelated offences.

But the Home Office said a mandatory database “would raise significant practical and ethical issues”.

The DNA database, which covers England and Wales, currently contains around 4.5m profiles – routinely taken from criminal suspects after most arrests.

It is already the largest of its kind in the world but is controversial.

Since 2004, the data of everyone arrested for a recordable offence – all but the most minor offences – has remained on the system regardless of their age, the seriousness of their alleged offence, and whether or not they were prosecuted.

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