Nemesis
11-14-2004, 03:51 PM
news.com.au (http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11383019%255E421,00.html)
By Linda Silmalis
November 14, 2004
PEOPLE are at risk of being investigated for crimes they did not commit amid revelations police have entered DNA data under wrong names.
The extraordinary errors were uncovered during an audit by the NSW Ombudsman of police samples taken from serious offenders.
A report on the findings said the investigation had found discrepancies in almost one in seven cases.
The discrepancies were between records held by police and those held by Divisional Analytical Laboratories, contracted by police to maintain the State's DNA database.
The most serious error related to forensic material entered into the police database under the name of an innocent relative of an offender.
The Ombudsman described the findings as a significant concern and ordered NSW Police to conduct an internal audit of its records.
The complaints watchdog has also recommended the Attorney-General consider setting up external overview to ensure records are accurate.
The Ombudsman warned the errors could erode confidence in the use of DNA as a criminal investigation tool.
The identification of suspects could also be delayed.
"More seriously, the discrepancies could result in the investigation of a person not associated with the crime," the report said.
"This may cause undue distress to that person, result in wasted police resources and ultimately, lessen confidence in the efficacy of DNA sampling as a criminal investigation tool."
Opposition police spokesman Peter Debnam called on the government to come clean on the extent of the problem and declare what action it had taken since it became aware of this "fundamental failure of the system".
Another report is scheduled to be released next year.
The Sunday Telegraph
By Linda Silmalis
November 14, 2004
PEOPLE are at risk of being investigated for crimes they did not commit amid revelations police have entered DNA data under wrong names.
The extraordinary errors were uncovered during an audit by the NSW Ombudsman of police samples taken from serious offenders.
A report on the findings said the investigation had found discrepancies in almost one in seven cases.
The discrepancies were between records held by police and those held by Divisional Analytical Laboratories, contracted by police to maintain the State's DNA database.
The most serious error related to forensic material entered into the police database under the name of an innocent relative of an offender.
The Ombudsman described the findings as a significant concern and ordered NSW Police to conduct an internal audit of its records.
The complaints watchdog has also recommended the Attorney-General consider setting up external overview to ensure records are accurate.
The Ombudsman warned the errors could erode confidence in the use of DNA as a criminal investigation tool.
The identification of suspects could also be delayed.
"More seriously, the discrepancies could result in the investigation of a person not associated with the crime," the report said.
"This may cause undue distress to that person, result in wasted police resources and ultimately, lessen confidence in the efficacy of DNA sampling as a criminal investigation tool."
Opposition police spokesman Peter Debnam called on the government to come clean on the extent of the problem and declare what action it had taken since it became aware of this "fundamental failure of the system".
Another report is scheduled to be released next year.
The Sunday Telegraph