MPA Civil Liberties Panel: DNA - Londoners have their say

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1 July 2010

The Metropolitan Police Authority Civil Liberties Panel held an open meeting at City Hall on Thursday 1 July to hear what individuals and campaigning organisations think about DNA in policing and the use of National DNA Database (NDNAD).

The meeting enabled participants, as well as those who could not attend but submitted written evidence, to voice their concerns about the current and future use of DNA.

Victoria Borwick, chair of the panel, said:

“The most important part of our review is to hear Londoners’ views. It is vital we hear directly from people about their personal experiences and concerns regarding this key civil liberties issue. We need to engage as widely as possible with individuals and groups who want to contribute to our review.

“This meeting will form an essential part of our evidence gathering about how the Met’s DNA collection and retention impacts on London’s communities. We particularly welcomed firsthand accounts of those who have had their DNA taken by police and individuals who have requested their DNA be removed from the database.

In conclusion, Victoria Borwick said:

“The first hand experiences we heard will help us understand the deep concerns that some members of the public have around the use of DNA  and this evidence will inform our final report. We expect to present our report at the end of the year.”

The Civil Liberties Panel is eager to hear from as many people as possible and comments can be sent to dna@mpa.gov.uk, or write to: Civil Liberties Panel, MPA, 10 Dean Farrar Street, London SW1H 0NY

Please send your comments by 31st August 2010.

Major themes which emerged during the meeting included:

• DNA seems to have become an end in itself, a process to be completed irrespective of proportionality
• there should be more transparency specifically  about how the DNA database is managed  
• there is no formalised means by which innocent people can get their records removed from the DNA database
• it can be a useful tool for detecting serious crimes – rape case prosecutions rely on DNA sampling. But there is a need for checks and balances to ensure it is used appropriately
• DNA sampling has undermined community trust in the police – on the one hand they are trying to reach out and engage with young people while with the other they are stigmatizing the same groups by taking DNA during interactions
• organisations are keeping separate databases and hiding behind FOI exemptions in order not to release more information
• having DNA taken is perceived as invasive and a violation of the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty, compounded by the retention of the DNA sample and the difficulty of trying to get it removed from databases
• retaining DNA samples of convicted criminals is completely different to keeping samples of innocent people who have not committed a crime

Notes to editors

1. For more information about the Civil Liberties Panel please see
www.mpa.gov.uk/clp
Victoria Borwick is available for interview

2. The open meeting was recorded and the webcast is available at:

www.mpa.gov.uk/clp/2010/100701/webcast-archive/

3. The Civil Liberties Panel was introduced in Met Forward, the MPA's mission statement for London’s police, as a means of securing public confidence in policing tactics in the capital and ensuring the Met maintains public trust:

‘Our duty, as London’s police authority, is to ensure the Met restores and maintains public trust. In order to support this, we will establish a Civil Liberties Panel of Authority members that will begin its work with a formal civil liberties scrutiny of the Met’s public order policing of violent disorder. Once the initial scrutiny is complete, the panel will continue both to monitor the situation and hear specific concerns from the public and human rights organisations.’

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