Posted on 06/04/2009 5:26:47 PM PDT by BGHater
Officers are targeting children as young as 10 with the aim of placing their DNA profiles on the national database to improve their chances of solving crimes, it is claimed.
The alleged practice is also described as part of a "long-term crime prevention strategy" to dissuade youths from committing offences in the future.
The claim comes amid widespread criticism of government proposals to store DNA profiles of innocent people, including some children, on the database for up to 12 years.
Civil liberty campaigners have condemned the tactic of as "diabolical" and said it showed contempt for children's freedom.
A Metropolitan Police officer made the claims after figures were released showing that 386 under-18s had their DNA taken and stored by police last year in Camden, north London.
The officer said: "Have we got targets for young people who have not been arrested yet? The answer is yes. But we are not just waiting outside schools to pick them up, we are acting on intelligence.
"It is part of a long-term crime prevention strategy. If you know you have had your DNA taken and it is on a database then you will think twice about committing burglary for a living.
"We are often told that we have just one chance to get that DNA sample and if we miss it then that might mean a rape or a murder goes unsolved in the future."
Last month the Home Office drew up plans to amend the DNA database after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that a blanket policy of retaining profiles of innocent people indefinitely was illegal.
However, adults and children arrested, but not convicted, of terrorism or serious sexual or violent offences will still have their profiles held for 12 years before they are deleted.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Dam. My mistake, please correct source to The Telegraph
Does the office have a name?
*sigh* ...officer...
I bet none of them have the name of “Muhammad”.
Boy I bet we didn’t see this one coming. Who coulda guessed? /s
Why stop at half-ass measures? They should simply confiscate all umbilical cords and change the law to keep the DNA on file forever. That’ll prevent LOTS of crimes.
It was inevitable. Coming to country near you.
As soon as we allowed arbitrary DNA collection without due process of law (even if it couldn't be held if acquitted), we opened the dorr for it to happen here. Mark my words.
Que the “precious bodily fluids” rant.
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