Many police departments still use DNA evidence the way they have used fingerprints and tire tracks: to determine whether a suspect committed the crime.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Cities vary widely in the use of DNA testing.
DNA, like a tape recording, carries a message in which there are specific instructions for a job to be done.
With the advent of DNA, we know that people have been convicted and sentenced to death who later proved not to be guilty of the crime.
While you're finding evidence of innocence, you also find evidence that points to other people.
When we had highly sensitive information, the DNA on the dress, that was held within our office and the FBI. There was no dissemination of that information.
You've got people who are looking at DNA evidence and other evidence like that and they're ignoring it.
With DNA, the ability to find out a lot more with a lot less has increased our ability for identification.
There is a long history of how DNA sequencing can bring certainty to people's lives.
Polygraphs are not allowed as evidence in most U.S. courts, but they're routinely used in police investigations, and the Defense Department relies heavily on them for security screening.
We have experienced an utter explosion in investigative techniques. Walk the streets, look at the cameras! They are now recognising people automatically from photos; we have DNA fingerprinting, infrascan photos that can identify you from the veins in your face.