Washington State Wants DNA From All Arrestees

An anonymous reader writes in to say that "Suspects arrested in cases as minor as shoplifting would have to give a DNA sample before they are even charged with a crime if a controversial proposal is approved by the Legislature. "It is good technology. It solves crimes," claims Don Pierce, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. Under the bill, authorities would supposedly destroy samples and DNA profiles from people who weren't charged, were found not guilty or whose convictions were overturned. Others believe that this is just another step in the process to build a national DNA database with everyone in it."

Comments

Re:There's no way they'll abuse this

[Hognoxious]

Can they vote? Can they drink alcohol? Can they run for president, or other major offices of state? Then may I humbly beseech you to shut the fuck verily up and actually read the document you're quoting?

Re:There's no way they'll abuse this

[furby076]

So, do tell, how will your pursuit of life, liberty and happiness be stopped if law enforcement has your DNA?

Re:Why, when the law was ignored

[painehope]

Want to know another interesting fact? Some jails will deliberately hold you for an insane amount of time just to get federal tax money.

I recall being arrested for a bogus assault charge (I was at my family's residence, had been drinking, took prescription medication for insomnia, and dozed off on the porch smoking a cigarette before going to bed - I'd had too much to drink to drive; my mother freaked out, called an ambulance, and because the dispatcher heard my father yelling at me to wake up in the background, I was arrested for a class A misdemeanor - punishable by up to 1 year in state jail - assault, simply because that's what the county they live in arrests drunk people on private property for; oh, no ambulance or medical treatment, just straight to jail) and spending 5 days just getting arraigned, bond set and posted, and processed out. No big deal, just 5 days. Case was thrown out in one court visit.

But while I was in there, I was talking to another guy who told me a joke about how he'd tell his wife not to send him any more money, because he'd be out that month, every month. He had long passed the stage where it bothered him, so he was laughing about it. I asked him how long he'd been there (jailhouse rules - never ask anyone what they're in for, and everyone is always innocent), and he replied "6 months" and then started laughing again. I asked him what was so goddamn funny, and he explained it was because he missed 4 hours of community service and thus had his probation revoked. And it wasn't jailhouse bullshit either, because I've been in enough times to know it.

That county was getting 100 USD per day, per inmate, from the feds - so they made roughly 18K off the guy (and once you've pled guilty and taken probation, or are out on parole, there's not a lot you can do if either is revoked, since you're considered guilty already). Not to mention free labor from trustees, or the profit on commissary. Oh, and this same county is building a brand new jail (and not closing the old one) right down the road - and it's a rural county, nothing but farms and suburbs, with a low crime rate and a low per capita income. Greed and corruption, anyone?