Arrests to get DNA samples is 'the norm'

Police forces have been arresting people simply to add them to Britain's controversial DNA database as a result of lax rules that have developed with almost no public scrutiny, the Government's independent DNA watchdog has warned.

The Human Genetics Commission (HGC) also raised doubts that there was any evidence that the national DNA database, the largest of its kind in the world, was of any use in solving crimes.

In its two-year report examining the database, it concluded that allowing police to add anyone arrested to the DNA database damaged the assumption of innocence.

The report received testimony from one senior police source, a retired chief superintendent, who said it was "the norm" for officers to arrest someone to obtain their DNA profile.

"It is apparently understood by serving police officers that one of the reasons, if not the reason, for the change in practice is so that the DNA of the offender can be obtained," said the source, whose identity has been kept secret. "It matters not whether the arrest leads to no action, a caution or a charge, because the DNA is kept anyway."

The HGC called for a debate on the rules on taking DNA samples and adding them to the database, which currently holds the data of around five million people. It added that an independent body was needed to oversee the database.

The commission also recommended that all police officers be added to the database to foster trust with the communities they serve.

It noted that there was "very little concrete evidence" as to how useful the database was in investigating crime, adding that the database was having a "disproportionate effect" on some groups. Young black men were "highly over-represented", it said, with more than three-quarters of those aged 18-35 on the database.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "DNA samples are taken on arrest for recordable offences carrying a prison sentence. The Government is clear that this is the right threshold for taking and retaining DNA. We know that the DNA database is a vital crime-fighting tool, identifying 410,589 crime scenes between 1998 and March 2009 with a DNA match and a possible lead on the possible identity of the offender."

HOW OTHERS DO IT

*France destroys DNA samples once a suspect has been acquitted. Only those convicted of a serious offence remain on the database.

*In Germany, DNA samples are destroyed once a profile has been obtained and checked. Only those convicted remain on a database.

*The approach in the US differs between different states, though federal rules dictate that police can collect DNA samples on arrest.

*In Scotland, the majority of DNA profiles are destroyed if the suspect is not charged with any offence.

- INDEPENDENT