Police making arrests 'just to gather DNA samples' [United Kingdom]

Police officers in England and Wales have made arrests just to get people on to the DNA database, a retired police superintendent has claimed.

He told the Human Genetics Commission (HGC) this was the "norm". It wants new guidance for police to regulate when it is appropriate to take a sample of DNA.

Police chiefs have denied the claim, which they called "plainly wrong".

The database for England and Wales also holds some profiles of people arrested in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Last year, 17,614 offences were solved using a DNA match, including 83 killings and 184 rapes.

The national DNA database in numbers

There are now about five million profiles on the national DNA database, a rise of 40% in two years.

The retired police superintendent, who is quoted but not named in a HGC report entitled Nothing to Hide, Nothing to Fear?, wrote to the advisory body expressing concerns that the way in which people were arrested appeared to have changed.

He wrote: "It is now the norm to arrest offenders for everything if there is a power...