Legal Aid: Family DNA approval wasn’t A-OK

THE LEGAL Aid Society has launched a broadside at the state’s familial DNA testing proposal, saying the move is an abuse of power.

In June, the state Commission on Forensic Science voted 9 to 2 to allow law enforcement agencies statewide to use the technique in violent felony and sex crime investigations.

The technique allows investigators to identify suspects by checking genetic material of relatives already in the state’s DNA database. It also can be used to eliminate people as suspects.

The move came after considerable pressure from pols, law enforcement agencies and the family of Karina Vetrano, who was slain in a Queens park while jogging in August 2016.

Legal Aid staff attorneys Allison Lewis and David Loftis, argued in a brief that the measure should have gone through the Legislature.

“The Commission on Forensic Science is unfit to green-light statewide familial search as it involves issues well beyond the expertise of the commission, including racially discriminatory genetic surveillance and basic personal privacy,” Lewis said.

“It’s an abuse of power that should be solely left to the Legislature to debate.”

Janine Kava, a spokeswoman for the Department of Criminal Justice Services, noted that the New York State Sheriffs’ Association supports the measure.

Once in place, the policy would have to be reviewed every two years.