Police in major cities nationwide are resisting attempts to collect their DNA. Rank-and-file police and their unions from Connecticut to Chicago to Los Angeles have opposed what some experts say is a slowly emerging trend in the U.S. to collect officers' DNA.
In Chicago, police officers pulled a slowdown in 2008 because their new chief invoked a new policy to collect DNA. In Los Angeles, police union leaders say management won't restrict how the DNA information is used and stored, and contend that privacy is uppermost in their objection.
Odd, there seems to be no such concern for the privacy of those that must provide DNA, namely convicted felons, and others...Why wouldn't their DNA be used improperly too?
Given the most insidious aspect of crime is the possibility that someone close to investigating a given case could be perpetrators themselves, it makes complete sense that police should be required to have their DNA handy, in large part to quickly eliminate them from suspicion.
Police in other parts of the world, including the UK and Australia, have been keeping officers' DNA on file years. The USA is behind due to police unions. Unions once again, slowing down investigations, interfering with any notion of efficiency, and of course, running up the cost.
