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| NEWS > 24 February 2008 |
Other related articles:
Latino Cops, MALDEF Sue California Police Department
Several Hispanic police officers are jointly suing the police department in Westminster, California, for discrimination and violating their labor rights.
Via the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, three policemen are contending that they were denied promotions and access to special assignments because they are Latino.
"We want the police department's manner of promotion to change, we want promotions to be given to people who deserve them and for there to be no discrimination," the plaintiffs' attorney, MALDEF national senior counsel Victor Viramontes, told... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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The Observer - UK
24 February 2008
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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UK: Tough police DNA powers ar
Controversial plans that would see the police given sweeping new powers to take DNA samples from people arrested for the most minor offences, such as dropping litter, have been rejected by the Home Office.
The move has been welcomed by civil liberties campaigners but is likely to provoke dismay among victim-support groups and some senior police officers, coming at the end of a week in which DNA samples proved crucial in the convictions of two high-profile murderers.
The government launched a consultation last year which examined a plan to expand the DNA database so that those arrested for even petty crimes - including begging and speeding - would be compelled to provide samples.
Yesterday the civil rights group Liberty said it had learnt the government has rejected the idea. 'The Home Office have signalled to us that they are backtracking on this proposal,' said Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty. 'They are worried about the outcry, the costs and the dangers if it goes wrong.'
The government has already indicated it is against a universal DNA database, but news that it has rejected this proposal suggests ministers accept there are flaws in its expansion.
Tony Lake, head of forensics for the Association of Chief Police Officers and Chief Constable of Lincolnshire, said an expansion could undermine the public's support for a DNA database. 'If we started dragging people off to police stations to get their DNA every time they dropped a bit of litter, that support would evaporate very quickly.' But he warned that other measures - which might lead to profiles being taken from the database - could have serious consequences.
On Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights is to begin deliberations about the legality of keeping the DNA profiles of individuals who have been charged but not convicted of a serious offence in Britain. If the court decides that this practice contravenes a person's human rights, then up to half a million DNA profiles might have to be removed. 'That would have major implications for our ability to carry out serious crime investigations,' said Lake.
In addition, a review by the new DNA database ethics panel has concluded the police should no longer be able to store indefinitely DNA samples provided voluntarily by witnesses to eliminate themselves from investigations.
A Home Office spokesman said the plan to expand the database had not been the government's idea but was one of many put to it as part of a consultation. But a Home Office document launching the consultation did promote its merits, claiming that the police's inability to take samples from all offenders might be considered to undermine 'the value and purpose of having a searchable database'.
Chakrabarti said she had concerns the debate was taking place in the aftermath of two high-profile court cases. Last week Steve Wright was convicted of murdering five women in Suffolk, while Mark Dixie was found guilty of killing Sally Anne Bowman. Both murderers had been identified by DNA samples.
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