By CHARLES WILSON
Indiana law enforcement officials could find it easier to fight crime if a national database holding DNA profiles of everyone born in the United States is created as the result of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month, experts say.
The prospect has had investigators and privacy advocates abuzz since the high court’s June 3 decision that police could take a DNA swab from anyone arrested for a serious crime without violating Fourth Amendment limits on search and seizure.
Currently, DNA profiles of felons or arrestees are entered into a national database that is managed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and used to match evidence left at a crime scene. Twenty-eight states and the federal government now take DNA swabs after arrests.
A broader database would allow investigators to screen the entire population to find the right suspect instead of limiting their search to those who had already been arrested or convicted, said Kristine Crouch, a forensic scientist for the Indiana State Police.
“If you leave your DNA at the crime scene, we will know who you are,” Crouch said.
