NYPD DNA Test Everything?

Let me get this straight, the NYC police department DNA tests everything where crowds congregate? Here's a news item where it basically alludes to this practice:

DNA recovered from a chain at the site of an Occupy Wall Street protest in March has been matched with DNA linked to the unsolved killing of a Juilliard student in 2004, law enforcement officials familiar with the case said on Tuesday.

DNA Found At Occupy Site Clue to 2004 Murder (NYTimes.com)

While I'm happy that a potential murderer may be found, it raises the question is this legal? They're basically sweeping up DNA for their database(s) in hopes of catching past and future criminals. The article states that a crime was committed using the chain (allowing Occupy protesters free access to the subway by propping open an emergency exit), but I just don't buy this reason. New York City police have more to worry about than folks stealing free subway rides - yes it is a crime and the Transit Authority has police assigned to prevent this - but sweeping for DNA seems extreme and I just don't buy it.

I believe this may be a new practice in preventive measures that law enforcement are taking to get the most DNA from its populace as possible in the solving of past and future crimes. Is it legal though?

reply to post by Jason88


Okay, so these DNA samples have no names attached? I don't see the problem.

The chain used to prop open a subway door letting people ride for free...

The connection to the murder comes from DNA on a cd player ...

the sad truth is that they don't even know if the chain was just laying there or someone brought it ...

this sounds thin to me..

I think they were looking for who propped the door open.... and just stumbled across this .....

to me
it just seems
like a way to Demonize
OWSer's as being potential murders or rapists.


as defecating in the streets wasn't bad enough.
maybe that's where they DNA came from

reply to post by TsukiLunar


True no names attached. But just the database itself seems not right, doesn't it?

Essentially the network is awaiting the names to come-in for linking to past crimes and future crimes, but also this DNA is locationally aware - meaning now the NYPD or prosecutor can say, "we also know you were at the Occupy protest, the Ozzy concert, or that raging party so we have established you are misfit personality to fit the crimes you are charged with now." This database can be used to establish patterns in behavior.

Does that makes sense? Is that legal?

I saw this in the paper this morning and the same thing popped into my head.

why did they test this? is this normal for the NYPD? Test everything that is part of any kind of acitivity that the police were involved in?

Now for the more important question, what kind of genetic material are they getting off the chain?


Honestly, this sounds more like an attempt to tie OWS to an unsolved crime, for the sake of tainting the OWS name, than any actual progress in solving an, as yet, unsolved crime.

Honestly, they don't have any clue as to who touched that chain, nor do they even know where it's been between the time it was created and, subsequently, confiscated. But, how nice to link OWS to it so that, moving forward, when people think OWS, they also think unsolved murder.

reply to post by fnpmitchreturns


Sounds thin to me as well. DNA testing to catch subway jumpers is a bit much. And great point, the history of this chain is unknown and they lucked out it matched an older murder case. I just worry that this is new breach of human rights where again we gave no consent for our DNA to be lifted. From a law enforcement side (I am not), I can see how this is helpful, but again where is consent? Or is being in public a form of consent?

reply to post by spoonbender


Yeah because DNA testing is so cheap and easy they test everything.

I'm with you on this one, it's propaganda.

Stay tuned, next they're going to link DNA found at OWS to the Kennedy assasination.

reply to post by Crakeur


Agree. There are loads of questions involved in this "innocent" DNA testing exercise. I want to know how much it costs to DNA test on scale like this; what else the NYPD regularly DNA tests; why is it priority for NYPD to catch subway jumpers and not the Transit Authority (the legal body in charge); Is there a anonymous DNA database awaiting names to be assigned, and who approved of this database?

Another good point - tying a murder to OWS to further tarnish its name. That's just sad, but I do hope they catch the killer - if that's really the goal.

ETA: This is not an anti-police post, this is trying to uncover a new practice that may violate our US rights.

Originally posted by TsukiLunar
reply to post by Jason88

 

Okay, so these DNA samples have no names attached? I don't see the problem.

I think its for future reasons. They cant get every ones face on camera but they can get their DNA. If they ever get a chance to get their DNA again then they can put them on a protestor list.

reply to post by Jason88


NYPD is scum
take it from a new yorker

there are many cases of the police taking evidence from a crime scene...

and "finding it" somewhere else


sounds like new york's lowest is up to it's old tricks again

lets not forget that no matter how infective, Occupy is a major obstacle
for that douche, bloomberg's war against the poor gentrification of NYC project. sooo....

In a 2006 report from the Department of Justice lists Forensic Biology (DNA testing) as costing per crime in the US at $568.98. A rape case costs $777.90.

NY State charges the criminal at $50 fee to offset costs, and it runs its own lab which is cheaper than private testing - the numbers above reflect costs of running a state lab.

DOJ Source: www.osbm.state.nc.us...

It safe to say prices have gone up since 2006, even with improvements in technology. So guess what, this potentially new practice of DNA sweeping costs tax payers even more than they thought.

*Seems the police don't even like their own DNA taken even for the purposes of ruling out cross-contamination at crime scenes.

The first 11 crime scene detectives provided DNA samples yesterday under a deal negotiated with the detectives union. Lawyers for the Detectives' Endowment Association hammered out language to protect the samples from being accessed for other reasons without a subpoena, sources said. Some rank-and-file detectives were not so sure. "Big Brother is here," said one investigator. "To get a DNA sample from anyone else requires a search warrant. They decided the Constitution doesn't apply to cops."

Source: lawprofessors.typepad.com...

No surprise, but they already have an impressive crime database where the assigned DNA is surely indexed:

The NYPD runs an anticrime computer network, essentially a large search engine and data warehouse operated by detectives to assist officers in the field with their investigations.[6] According to the department, its mission is to "enforce the laws, preserve the peace, reduce fear, and provide for a safe environment."

Source (Wikipedia, I know I know): en.wikipedia.org...

Salaries to work in the Jamaica, Queens Crime Lab (the scale reflects education and experience):

1A $43,727 Flat rate
1B $46,455 - $55,108
II $55,593 - $76,493
III $69,304 - $91,294
IV $79,965 - $104,454

NYPD source: www.nyc.gov...

What I'm starting to realize is that if true (big IF because no evidence yet other than this odd story), that the NYPD is swabbing mass amounts of DNA from public gatherings and popular places, then they are creating an expensive, questionably legal practice of gathering intimate facts about each person in a possible invasion of privacy.

I'm all for catching the bad guys, but where is the line drawn on our privacy – our real genetic privacy.

reply to post by DerepentLEstranger


No kidding. I remember when Mayor Giuliani lowered the standards on the police qualification practices by allowing folks to join who had criminal convictions. All for an additional 6,000 police officers to enforce his "Broken Windows" theory. It worked, NY got cleaned up for tourist dollars, but the corruption that has leaked out is nasty.

Broken windows theory

Not to go too far off topic, but it was William J. Bratton who implemented this practice under Giuliani, but you won't know that the way His Honor takes credit for fixing crime in NY.