Cops Across US Now Collecting DNA Samples of Random Citizens in “Stop And Swabs”

In something that looks to come out of an Orwellian future, police in some states are now routinely collecting people’s DNA for analysis. The idea that the government is going to start building a database with the results of the analysis of everyone’s DNA is a frightening thought to us.  Your DNA reveals a huge amount of information about you, and collecting it represents an enormous intrusion into your privacy.

Without laws to guide them, police around the country have begun collecting people’s DNA — even when no crime has been committed — using private labs which then store the genetic material for unknown periods to make identification simple in the event a crime is committed in the future.

Known generally as “stop and spit,” the practice of requesting the DNA of adults and juveniles during routine traffic stops and even basic interactions with police, ProPublica reports, is not only wholly unregulated and unlegislated, it is alarmingly common.

Who’s idea is this?  At this point, police are only asking people to voluntarily furnish their DNA.  Will it become mandatory in the future?

While Fourth Amendment precedents mandate reasonable suspicion of an actual crime be present before requiring a search and seizure — in this context, for a person to fork over their DNA — asking someone to consent to voluntarily swab the inside of their cheek has yet to be thoroughly tested in court.

We’re told this practice has numerous benefits, but we would point out that crimes were also solved before this technology was made available. And it’s commonplace for all the alleged benefits of any practice that infringes on our freedoms to be trotted out in an attempt to gain public acceptance.  Sort of like gun control laws.

Frederick Harran, Director of Public Safety for Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania — where even the thin excuse of someone ‘acting suspiciously’ could cause an officer to request DNA — told Kirchner in just four years, consensual collection cut burglaries by 42 percent. Bensalem partners with private lab Bode Cellmark Forensics, which the township funds using equally controversial drug asset forfeiture profits.

“This has probably been the greatest innovation in local law enforcement since the bulletproof vest. It stops crime in its tracks,” Harran asserted. “So why everyone’s not doing it, I don’t know.”

There’s a lot more information in the source, but maybe it’s time to realize that Big Brother is not just watching, but is also asking for our cooperation in creating and maintaining the most expansive amount of data on us imaginable.

Source:  Activist Post