December 14, 1998
      
      NYC Wants DNA in All Arrests
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     Filed at 3:20 p.m. EST
     
      By The Associated Press
      
     NEW YORK (AP) -- Despite objections from civil libertarians, the
     city's police commissioner proposed Monday to take a DNA sample
     along with the fingerprints of everyone arrested.
     
     Commissioner Howard Safir said the test would solve crimes and help
     curb repeat offenders. ``The innocents have nothing to fear ...
     only if you are guilty should you worry about DNA testing,'' he
     said.
     
     The New York Civil Liberties Union contends that arrest is not
     sufficient grounds for forced collection of DNA.
     
     But Safir has said that civil libertarians should support the plan
     because DNA has been used to clear innocent people.
     
     Under Safir's plan, the police would take a swabbing from inside a
     suspect's cheek -- a standard method of collecting DNA - and put
     test results into a database for future reference. Legal and
     forensics experts say DNA is as reliable as fingerprints.
     
     Many states allow DNA testing of certain convicts, New York among
     them. Only in Louisiana does the testing apply to people under
     arrest.
     
     Safir's plan would require action by the state Legislature to
     become reality.
     
     In Britain, where DNA samples are taken from every suspect,
     officials have solved 17 major cases using such data since 1995,
     according to the National Institute of Justice Journal.
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