DNA and it use by Law Enforcement

Recently in Maine news the headlines read:

"Genealogical Databases" used to match Maine man's DNA to Alaska murder!

DNA from an unsolved murder over 26 years ago was used in Public DNA Genealogical Databases and a Maine man's aunt who had done a DNA test came back as a close match and the police were able to use this evidence to find him.  He had lived in the same dorm as the victim, but had denied knowing the victim at the time in 1993 when DNA evidence was not where it is now.

A reporter from a Portland News Channel contacted myself and a few others in the DNA Interest Groups (or DIG) for comment.  However his take on the case was not that DNA was used to find a murderer, but that maybe people shouldn't do DNA testing as it might lead to the arrest of a loved one and if people were aware of this, they may choose not to do DNA testing?   I didn't feel comfortable doing his interview for that reason.  Luckily another person volunteered to be interviewed and did a great job trying to point out that people doing DNA testing are really more interested in their ancestry and finding family than criminals.

I know that GEDmatch makes it very clear that they are a public website and people who use it voluntarily upload their DNA to the site and Gedmatch can be used by Law Enforcement to upload DNA from cases of rape, murder and sexual assault to find the perpetrator of these crimes.  Recently FamilyTreeDNA has allowed Law Enforcement to also upload DNA from crimes as stated, but they do not get any extra benefits, only the same benefits as anyone else who uses the site has access to.

I also have struggled somewhat with this question when people ask me about DNA and Law Enforcement.  Do I feel comfortable with the police just having free access to all databases to use in any crime?  For example if I had posted signs around the city against a certain politician or someone in a position of power, who I felt was doing something wrong or not being honest about something they were involved in and my DNA was found on the signs.   This person in power could ask law enforcement to use the DNA to find me and stop me from exercizing my free speech rights.  No I do not  feel that Law Enforcement should have have access to anything without probable cause.

However, if one of my immediate family members or relatives were discovered to have committed a heinous crime like murder, rape or sexual assault because of my DNA being posted in various DNA webistes would I feel guilty.  I have to say, I would not.  I would of course feel bad for my family members of the person who would be convicted, but not really for the person who committed the crime who either lied or hid from it.  I have always told my family members I love them no matter what.  But if they committed a terrible crime,  I would still probably love them.   I would not be happy about what they had done or necessarily even forgive them for what they had done to another person.

I also have a strong belief that if one of my immediate family members was a victim of a crime of murder or a sexual assault, it would be my hope that Law Enforcement would use any tool, including DNA databases to catch the person or persons guilty of the crime.  I would hope for some closure and maybe some reason for why this happened. So if DNA was also used to find one of my family members guilty of these heinous crimes, I hope it would give that victim's family some closure as well.

These are the early days still of DNA tests and how DNA can and will be used is still being determined by courts and often laws and regulations are behind in any new technology.  Eventually, some case will arise where someone will overstep the boundaries and laws and rules will begin to instituted.

DNA has been shown to solve crimes, but also to free innocent people wrongly convicted years later.  I think back that not in my lifetime, many school children were fingerprinted and put in a government database to help in child abductions if that terrible event should occur.  Fingerprints like DNA are unique and yet used to solve crimes as well.  For now, I not against or feel uncomfortable with my DNA on some of the above websites being used by Law Enforcement.   Not everyone will agree with my opinion, but it is what I currently believe when it comes to DNA use in solving these cold case crimes.