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UK: "Voluntary" DNA sampling of officers still causing problems

01 March 2001

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The Essex Police Federation (the police equivalent of a trade union) has accused force managers of using "bully-boy tactics" to persuade officers to provide DNA samples under a voluntary scheme. Forensic scientists have advocated a database of police profiles to eliminate their samples from crime scenes but some officers have refused (see Statewatch vol 10 no 5, vol 11 no 1). Terry Spelman, Police Federation Secretary, did not disclose the nature of these “tactics”, but told the force newspaper that his comments were a response to “a lot of a concerns”. He claims “officers are now saying they will not give the sample because of this attitude, when if it had been handled differently, they would have considered it”. Meanwhile, the Gloucestershire Federation awaits “final clarification” on whether the threat to remove from operational duties six officers who refused to give samples breaches the Human Rights Act.

Police Review, 2 & 16 March 2001.

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