State Lawmaker Wants To Take All Misdemeanor Offenders’ DNA
By CBS4,
CBS Denver
| 01. 30. 2013
DENVER (CBS4) – There’s a proposal to collect DNA from everyone who commits a crime in Colorado, no matter how small.
The state already has DNA from the worst felons. Now Rep. Dan Pabone, D-Denver, wants to add the DNA of people convicted of misdemeanors. That’s more than 33,000 people a year in Colorado.
From disorderly conduct to public intoxication, DUIs to shoplifting, anyone convicted of a misdemeanor would have to provide a sample of DNA if state lawmakers go along with Pabone’s bill.
“This is a bill going to protect people and save lives,” Pabone said.
The DNA would be collected as a saliva swab and put in the state database, which already holds the DNA of felons, giving police a massive genetic lineup.
“It does same thing that fingerprints do, but just in more a accurate, sophisticated way,” Pabone said.
Pabone says statistics show people who commit minor crimes go on to commit more serious crimes, and DNA would be a way to both convict criminals and exonerate the innocent.
Even prosecutors are undecided.
“There’s no question that...
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