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Residents of Louisiana who are arrested for crimes such as hiring a prostitute, stalking, and fighting with school referees will now be subject to having their DNA profiles sent to the national criminal database—even if they aren’t convicted of the crime.

In many states, DNA evidence from convicted felons is immediately included in the database. However, Louisiana, Virginia, Texas, Minnesota, California, Kansas, and New Mexico have enacted new laws to include DNA profiles of those arrested for felonies or even some misdemeanors.

The first set of genetic profiles of 45,000 arrests—no convictions—was sent to the National DNA Index System yesterday.

It is expected that an average of 1,500 to 2,500 more genetic samples will be provided every week,
according to Tammy Pruet Northrup, DNA manager for the state police crime lab.

Both proponents and opponents of the new expanded DNA database law are debating whether giving genetic samples of people not convicted of any crime is a violation of rights.

Ann Todd, a spokeswoman for the FBI laboratory in Quantico, VA believes that having more samples will significantly benefit solving crimes, particularly in cold cases in which DNA evidence might give investigators new leads.

“Obviously, the more information in the database, the more productive it will be in helping to solve crimes, and the types of crimes in the database are violent crimes typically,” she said.

However, defense attorney Thomas Damico questions whether DNA evidence is a solid case breaker. He fears that DNA will soon “replace good old-fashioned shoe-leather investigation, and the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time without an alibi will be in trouble.”

“I quite frankly don’t think this is good for anybody,” Damico said. “There’s too much potential for abuse.”

If you or a loved one has been charged with a criminal offense, contact an experienced criminal law attorney today. 

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