On May 1998, Chief Supt Peter Gammon who is the president of the Police superintendents Association says that there should be the establishment of a NDNAD for the whole population, this would have both a positive and negative effect on society as criminals can be caught quicker, it would take less time to find criminals but also it could have a negative effect as it would mean that innocents people DNA would be kept on the NDNAD and it could be seen as an invasion of people’s privacy.
On September 1998 Chief Supt Robert Taylor, of the elite National Crime squad says that there should be DNA samples taken from every baby at birth to solve crime, this would have a negative effect on society as this is an invasion of people’s privacy.
In January 2001, DNA obtained from suspected criminals is available to the police forever under the Criminal Justice and Police Bill, Home Secretary Jack Straw said, this would have a positive effect in society as this would enable the police in stopping criminals committing crimes and the police would have a record making it easy to identify criminals.
In 2003, The criminal Justice Act 2003 extended police powers once again to allow DNA profiles, fingerprints and other information to be taken without permission from anyone arrested in England or Wales on suspicion of any recordable offence, this includes all but the most smallest offences. The new legislation allows the police to keep this information for a long time even if the person arrested is never charged, this has a positive effect on society as the broader the list of people in the world on the NDND the more chance of fight against crime and the faster it is to catch criminals but on the other hand it can also have a negative effect on society as the police will have personal information of people and their family life without their permission.
In January 2005, Gene Watch UK says privacy safeguards are required to fight the intrusive effects of the police DNA database, this has a positive effect on society as peoples private information is safely guarded and therefore cannot be tampered with.
In November 2007, The Liberal Democrats say police must stopped from keeping innocent children’s DNA profiles as figures show that almost 150,000 under 16 year olds are on the database, this has a positive effect on society as it will stop police accessing innocent children’s personal information.
In February 2008, former Tory leader Michael Howard said that decisions over whose details remain on the UK’s DNA database are a matter for parliament and not unelected foreign judges, this has a positive effect on society as the DNA of people is safe and dealt correctly and is reliable with the parliament unlike with the unelected foreign judges.
In July 2008, the ethics group, a government appointed advisory body says police should be stopped from putting DNA samples taken from innocent volunteers on to the database and innocent people should have their profiles deleted from the National DNA database the government citizens inquiry says, this has a positive effect on society as the personal information of innocent people cannot be accessed, the personal information of innocent people cannot be invaded and cannot be tampered with.
On March 2009, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne calls down the decision to store a baby’s DNA on the national database as wrong, this has a positive effect on society as it will prevent the police accessing personal information from innocent people.
Information for this assignment was gathered from the following sources:
The Telegraph
Gene Watch UK
