Personal genetics in policy and
social issues: Crime and forensics
Do Now:
Imagine that there have been a string of murders that appear to
be the work of the same person; the police have a few leads
but little conclusive evidence. There is DNA believed to be
that of the murderer at the crime scenes, but it doesn’t match
DNA in the criminal databases. The police don’t have enough
evidence to get a warrant to search the lead suspect’s house,
but they do obtain a warrant to get a sample of DNA from a
medical test of the suspect’s (adult) daughter. She does not
know about or consent to this.
1. Should the police be able to take a DNA sample, without
permission, from the child of a suspect? Why or why not?
2. If you were a relative of one of the victims, would you support
this method? Why?
3. If you were a relative of the suspect, would you support this?
Why?
BTK Serial Killer – Dennis Rader
Source: El Dorado Police Department
What is a criminal DNA database?
• Database of genetic information that is maintained by
law enforcement agencies
• “Forensic Index”: DNA collected at a crime scene
• “Offender Index”: DNA collected from people who are
arrested or convicted of a crime
Big Idea: Compare DNA from the forensic and offender
indexes to find matches
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Who is in our various state and federal
DNA databases?
• There are 11,091,500+ people who are part of the
“offender index” in the Combined DNA Index System
(CODIS) in the US as of 8/2012.
• CODIS: FBI’s program for linking the federal, state
and local DNA profiles in a single database
• 447,300 samples in the “forensic index”
(found at a crime scene)
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What do you have to do to get into
a criminal database?
• Policies vary from state to state.
•
In all 50 states: a felony conviction gets you into the database.
• In some, but not, all states, you are added to CODIS if you are:
1. Convicted of a misdemeanor
2. Arrested for a felony
3. Arrested for a misdemeanor
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Misdemeanors include:
Disorderly Conduct (ex: protests)
Graffiti
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RNC2008_day2_protest_by_matt_sandy.jpg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/imag
e_galleries/banksy_gallery.shtml?30
False Advertising
http://healthinformatics.wikispaces.com/SketchersShapeUps
What has changed in the last 14 years
since CODIS was established?
• The databases are expanding – states are widening the criteria
for entrance into their databases (New York State just expanded
all people convicted of a misdemeanor in March 2012).
•CODIS is growing at a rate of 80,000 new additions annually.
• Scientific leaps are creating new opportunities and challenges.
• Familial searching – also known as “partial match” searching –
has generated interest and controversy.
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Familial Searching
• Familial searching targets specific family members of
people already in a DNA database.
• Law enforcement runs a DNA crime scene sample to look
for a match in database - partial match rather than exact
match.
• Look in records to see if the person in database has a
close relative who could be a suspect - if so, investigate
further, interview, possibly secretly obtain DNA sample
(from a cup, cigarette, pizza crust, etc.).
AP file photo
Darryl Hunt reacts
after being cleared
of charges after
19 years in prison
for a murder he
didn’t commit
• Has produced some amazing breakthroughs in cases – caught BTK,
Grim Sleeper, Shoe Rapist and has exonerated innocent people
• But, critics say this creates an entire group of people subject to
indefinite genetic surveillance
• Disproportionately impacts minorities, i.e. African-Americans make up
13% of population, but 40% prison population
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html; http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/pjim06.pdf US Bureau of Justice Statistics
What are the scientific
controversies?
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