A bill passed by Pennsylvania’s Senate a month ago (Bill 150) will clear the path for an increased usage of DNA forensics by law enforcement authorities to battle crime.
The law will enable police to collect DNA samples from persons charged with severe crimes. Moreover, more DNA search methods will be put to use in order to shed light on past cases which were not solved. For example, police investigators will be allowed to take unidentified DNA sample for a crime scene for further analysis.
Regarding the issue of privacy, the law requires the authorities to destroy DNA records of exonerated persons.
Senator Pileggi who led this legislation initiative claims that DNA forensics has been proven to be very effective in other states across the nation and there is no reason why Pennsylvania should not follow suit. This new law can definitely increase police capacity to handle soaring crime rates and will save lives.
Various organizations, among which are the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, have expressed their strong support of the new law.