UK Police Want DNA of 'Potential Offenders'

mrogers writes "British police want to collect DNA samples from children as young as five who 'exhibit behavior indicating they may become criminals in later life'. A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers argued that since some schools already take pupils' fingerprints, the collection and permanent storage of DNA samples was the logical next step. And of course, if anyone argues that branding naughty five-year-olds as lifelong criminals will stigmatize them, the proposed solution will be to take samples from all children."

Comments

Re:And?

[BSAtHome]

Sure you have nothing to hide. You submitted a DNA sample of your neighbor and passed it along as your own. Instead of you have nothing to hide, you are non-existent. A nice prospect to keep below the radar.

Re:Parent needs remodding Insightful

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

From Wikipedia:

Among the key elements of Nazism were anti-parliamentarism, ethnic nationalism, racism, collectivism, eugenics, antisemitism, opposition to economic liberalism and political liberalism, a racially-defined and conspiratorial view of finance capitalism, anti-communism, and totalitarianism.

What about this proposition makes it synonymous with nazism? It's surveillance and a breach of privacy (assuming you have any over in the ol' UK). The worst part of nazism wasn't the "papers please" aspect of the Hitler regime, rather the racism, the oppression (not quite the same as surveillance), and the eventual genocide. The privacy breach is a footnote at best.

Re:Meeting expectations

[FailedTheTuringTest]

This is called the Pygmalion effect. The test results change the teacher's expectations, and the teacher's expectations influence the kids' future performance. It has also been shown that teachers have different expectations of children based on race and sex, which affect children's performance as they fulfill these expectations. But it's a widespread phenomenon outside the classroom as well.

Re:First they came for the ...

[digitig]

For some, it's the slippery-slope:
First they collected DNA from sex criminals.
Then they collected DNA from felons.
Then they collected DNA from all criminals.
Then they collected DNA from people who get speeding tickets.
Then they collected DNA from people who drive.
Then they collected DNA from everyone else.
We're between steps 3 and 4 on your list here in the UK, which is nearly the end of the list. The police collect and retain DNA if you are arrested, even if not subsequently charged. Remember that guy recently who was arrested for being in posession of a mobile phone in a public place? Because the police say that somebody thought it was a gun? If they can arrest for that and get DNA, they can already get any adult's DNA they want to. The new thing here is that they want kids DNA too.