DNA Better Than Prints for Burglar ID, But What’s the Cost?

Evidence

DNA Better Than Prints for Burglar ID, But What’s the Cost?

Posted Jun 16, 2008, 01:54 pm CDT
By Martha Neil

DNA evidence isn't just helpful in violent crimes. It can also help police identify more burglary suspects (who often are involved in violent crimes, too), a new study finds.

Analyzing DNA from burglars—which police officers, once trained, can collect as accurately as evidence technicians—greatly increases the chance of catching the suspect, and hence is more cost-effective than traditional fingerprint evidence in the long run.

However, the study by the DOJ's National Institute of Justice doesn't address the funding needed by law enforcement to pay all the costs of DNA testing, including the need to train police in evidence collection techniques. Nor does the study address the prosecutorial resources needed to pursue such cases in court, officials admitted today at a teleconference in response to reporters' questions.

There already is reportedly a backlog in many jurisdictions throughout the country in which DNA has been tested in violent crime cases but prosecutions aren't being pursued because of manpower shortages.

The study, which collected DNA evidence at burglaries in five U.S. cities, is the first time that DNA evidence has been systematically used to identify burglars in this country, Katharine Browning, a senior science social analyst with the institute, told teleconference participants. "This is a new way for police departments to treat burglaries."

Additional information about the study is provided on the institute's website and in a written report (PDF) about the study that is also available on the institute's website.

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