全球智库信息集成服务系统

• Familial DNA searching and the expanded use of genetic-based investigation raise difficult legal, ethical, and policy concerns.
• Although familial searching is permissible in many states, it is used sparingly.
• California and Texas, the two largest states by population, also have the two largest state-level DNA databanks, but they restrict the use of familial DNA testing to situations that justify its use and where the public safety implications are most acute. As of 2018, these two states combined had approved and conducted fewer than 100 familial searches.
• Familial and moderate stringency DNA searches effectively increase the number of individuals to investigate because they include individuals who have not been convicted, arrested, or even suspected of committing a crime, which raises important concerns about intrusiveness and privacy. Known racial disparities in the criminal justice system might result in racially biased genetic population surveillance.
• Continual advancements in forensic DNA testing suggest that familial searching at these laboratories may be replaced by more-powerful alternatives in the future.
• Local labs want to see improvements in the Code DNA Index System software to facilitate data queries and production of statistical reports.
• It is unclear whether familial or moderate stringency searches are more cost-effective overall than the status quo.

Forensic DNA testing has helped law enforcement solve crimes, often long after the investigative trail has gone cold. Familial DNA and moderate stringency search protocols are logical extensions for cases where there is no exact DNA match. Although familial DNA searching is permissible in most states, it is used sparingly. Additionally, policies governing the use of familial searching lack consistency, and lawmakers might be uncertain about the procedure's effectiveness in solving or deterring crime — and about the unintended implications and legal, ethical, and practical barriers to its wider adoption.

The authors provide a baseline for criminal justice policymakers to better understand the ways in which familial DNA and moderate stringency testing are being used in the field today. Their findings are based on a U.S. survey and study of practices at state and local forensic laboratories and interviews with representatives of two states — California and Texas — that have used the technique in different ways. Additional qualitative interviews shed light on how the issues of privacy, public safety, and budget consciousness have shaped policies on familial DNA searching in England and Wales. The authors fill a knowledge gap for academics and practitioners about the history, prevalence, and typical practice of this technique and for policymakers seeking to make informed decisions on whether an expansion of the U.S. DNA databases would be acceptable by society in investigating how crimes can potentially be solved or prevented.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Methods

• Chapter Three

  Results

• Chapter Four

  Discussion