A quarter million Danes may end up in DNA-register
01 January 2004
If the Minister of Justice, Lene Espersen, gets her way the current DNA database will, in the course of a few years, experience a massive escalation. Experts estimate that more than 250,000 Danes will be included in the register, which today only contains the samples and names of 2,270 people. The Minister has put forward a proposal to parliament, to expand the category of persons who can be included in the register. Currently it contains only the DNA-profiles of people who have been charged with very serious crimes such as extreme violence, rape or killing. The new initiative will raise the DNA-register to the same level as the fingerprint database. It will contain information about both convicted and non-convicted persons.
"I don't think there is any reason to talk about a surveillance society", the minister told the daily Politiken. "It is obvious that DNA can help the police get a better result in clearing up crime. If we can transfer the success I think it is about time". The head of the parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee, Ms. Anne Baastrup (Socialist Peoples Party), is also positive about the proposal.
Her attitude is not shared by the legal expert, Jørn Vestergaard of the University of Copenhagen. He believes that the database should either contain information on those convicted of a crime or - his preferred option - the whole population. "There should not be reasons for major reservations, even if it is a big expansion, because safety and work practices are in order. Along the way, one might just as well establish a register for the whole population. If "ordinary" people are included too there is a greater probability of good practice involving the register", said Vestergaard.
However, even a small database, such as the current one, can be difficult to handle, as was shown recently. A man was brought in for questioning about a killing because the police had found his DNA at the crime scene. The problem was, that at the time of the crime he was already in the hands of the police (in fact being treated in a hospital). This case is now being investigated to establish how such a mistake could occur.