Police seek power to collect DNA on arrest
Controversial call weighs privacy, community safety
“Book ’em” could carry a whole new meaning at police stations in Canada if lawmakers are swayed to make a controversial change to the Criminal Code.
A growing number of law enforcement representatives are calling for new powers to collect DNA from criminal suspects at the time of their arrest, not just upon their conviction and sentence.
They say the law already allows authorities to get fingerprints and photographs when someone is taken into custody, so is it that much of a stretch to ask suspects to open their mouths for a DNA swab to see if they might be connected to other unsolved crimes?
“In the name of community safety, let’s address this issue. I think it’s a nobrainer,” said Paul Wozney, president of the Alberta Federation of Police Associations, which has been trying to drum up support for the idea through media interviews and appeals to members of Parliament.
Proponents say allowing DNA collection upon arrest would allow police to identify repeat offenders sooner. Years can pass before a trial is held, they say. They also point out that convicted offenders who are ordered by a judge to submit a DNA sample — but who are not required to serve jail time — often won’t show up to give that sample.
Wozney said police are not looking to get DNA samples from everyone who is arrested, just those who are arrested for more serious crimes, such as murder, kidnapping, robbery, arson and break-andenter. And if a suspect ends up being found not guilty, the DNA sample would be destroyed.
A similar proposal has been endorsed by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. Its members noted in a commentary in 2011 that under the current system, “an accused who has committed other crimes will go undetected for years while awaiting trial for his current arrest, leaving victims without answers and allowing an accused on bail to continue to commit similar offences, undeterred.”
Privacy and civil liberties groups are not convinced.
A spokesman for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada cited a speech given by assistant commissioner Chantal Bernier in 2010.
“Does mere suspicion, which is all we have upon arrest, justify such a deep and consequential invasion of privacy as the retention of DNA in a DNA databank?” she asked. “It’s no,” she said. In fact, “the amount of DNA data, relevant and irrelevant, that would be retained if we opened it to collection upon arrest, could be so broad to be difficult to manage and in fact may decrease the effectiveness of law enforcement response,” she added.
A citizens committee appointed by the public safety minister to advise the RCMP on oversight of the national DNA databank said in a 2010 report that DNA collection was “more intrusive” than taking fingerprints and that police should continue to seek a DNA warrant if they want to try to link someone to biological evidence found at a crime scene.
Committee chair Garry Loeppky, a former RCMP deputy commissioner, said in an interview the experience in Britain has shown that there can be logistical challenges in getting rid of samples taken from people who are later acquitted of the charges.
The Harper government has so far been reluctant to jump on the idea.
“Police associations are one of the stakeholder groups with whom we regularly consult,” Sean Phelan, a spokesman for Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, said in an email. “We always take their suggestions very seriously as we come forward with new Justice/Public Safety initiatives. With respect to this particular proposal, there are currently no such plans in the works.”