Current Events > SF Police linked woman to crime with DNA collected from her rape kit

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/San-Francisco-police-linked-a-woman-to-a-crime-16918673.php

The San Francisco police crime lab has been entering sexual assault victims DNA profiles in a database used to identify suspects in crimes, District Attorney Chesa Boudin said Monday, an allegation that raises legal and ethical questions regarding the privacy rights of victims.

Boudin said his office was made aware of the practice last week, after a womans DNA collected years ago as part of a rape exam was used to link her to a recent property crime.

If DNA from a rape kit was used without consent for purposes other than investigating the underlying rape case, it may be a violation of constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures as well as Californias Victims Bill of Rights, Boudin said.

Such a practice could also create another deterrent to sexual assault victims coming forward with allegations that are already notoriously under-reported to law enforcement.

The primary concern that I and my office have ... is with detecting and preventing future crime, Boudin said. We want San Francisco to be as safe as possible, (and) we want survivors of sexual assault to feel comfortable and safe reporting and cooperating with law enforcement.

Interesting. Doesn't seem like a 4th amendment issue but I can see that causing issues with victim's rights laws, depending on how robust they are. Some states don't gaf about victims.

im shocked there already isnt a national DNA registry that everyone is on to help take a bite out of crime.

Was she already a suspect or did they just enter her DNA profile randomly?

Yeah, thats all kinds of fucked up.

What kind of a property crime do they collect DNA from?

HANGtheDJ_86 posted...

What kind of a property crime do they collect DNA from?

maybe a break in with blood on the scene.

JimRob posted...

Was she already a suspect or did they just enter her DNA profile randomly?

Theyre taking the DNA from the rape kits and adding it to their database, which they check when a DNA sample is left at a crime scene.

Seems pretty despicable to me.

Flauros posted...

im shocked there already isnt a national DNA registry that everyone is on to help take a bite out of crime.

This sounds like a movie that has Ethan Hawke trying to bring down the System.

Beyond fucked

Antifar posted...

we want survivors of sexual assault to feel comfortable and safe reporting and cooperating with law enforcement.

Bad way to go about that!

great, even more reasons for victims to never come forward

I mean..I get notion of not wanting to discourage rape victims from coming forward but law enforcement isnt just going to over look it if your dna pings in connection with a separate crime.

HBKick18 posted...

great, even more reasons for victims to never come forward

Part of the plan I'm sure.

lilORANG posted...

Doesn't seem like a 4th amendment issue

It doesn't?

Solid Snake07 posted...

I mean..I get notion of not wanting to discourage rape victims from coming forward but law enforcement isnt just going to over look it if your dna pings in connection with a separate crime.

It's not going to "ping" if they don't enter the victim's DNA into the database. This isn't an issue of not "overlooking" something, this is an issue of them misusing the victim's DNA in the first place.

HBKick18 posted...

great, even more reasons for victims to never come forward

How many rape victims are really going to not report the crime because they're worried that one day in the future they might leave DNA evidence at a crime scene and get caught using said DNA from the kit? What's the Venn diagram of those two groups?

That's a really awkward dilemma to be in. How often do rape kits even end up leading to a conviction to begin with?

s0nicfan posted...

How many rape victims are really going to not report the crime because they're worried that one day in the future they might leave DNA evidence at a crime scene and get caught using said DNA from the kit? What's the Venn diagram of those two groups?

If they're low income and were raped because someone took advantage of their life situation probably quite a few?

s0nicfan posted...

How many rape victims are really going to not report the crime because they're worried that one day in the future they might leave DNA evidence at a crime scene and get caught using said DNA from the kit? What's the Venn diagram of those two groups?

You know many illegal immigrants don't report crimes because they are scared that the police will arrest them ?

s0nicfan posted...

How many rape victims are really going to not report the crime because they're worried that one day in the future they might leave DNA evidence at a crime scene and get caught using said DNA from the kit? What's the Venn diagram of those two groups?

Stop being so dense. This should not be allowed regardless of whatever Venn diagram you want to look at. If this only prevents one person from coming forward its too many. A lot of people who get mixed up in crime have to deal with sexual assault, especially in poorer neighborhoods. Many already are afraid to come forward because of their situation. Cops love to not believe them. They shouldnt also have to worry about being implicated in something completely different for reporting a rape. Fuck out of here.

Flauros posted...

im shocked there already isnt a national DNA registry that everyone is on to help take a bite out of crime.

If you want one of those move to China

TheVipaGTS posted...

Stop being so dense. This should not be allowed regardless of whatever Venn diagram you want to look at. If this only prevents one person from coming forward its too many. A lot of people who get mixed up on crime have to deal with sexual assault, especially in poorer neighborhoods. They shouldnt have to worry about being implicated in something completely different for reporting a rape. Fuck out of here.

I'm not being dense. I'm pushing back against the ridiculous fear-mongering tactic of saying that rape victims won't report rape if it could get them caught in a future crime. It was a stupid thing to say and legitimately hurts the arguments of people making the case that this is wrong. People all across the country are fingerprinted every day as a requirement for things like getting a passport or crossing the border. You get your picture taken to get a driver's license. What if in the future you get caught committing a crime on a CCTV camera? Are you going to argue that that practice is bad too because someone might leave fingerprints at a crime? The only difference between the two is the accuracy when tested.

How is it fear mongering? Many are already afraid to report rape. They shouldnt have to worry about another level of this. Im not sure why youre trying to argue that this is ok. This isnt getting a passport or mailing a voter card. If people are afraid to do that so be it. No one should be afraid of reporting rape and they should not be adding ways to make people afraid, even if its only a few people. jfc.

s0nicfan posted...

How many rape victims are really going to not report the crime because they're worried that one day in the future they might leave DNA evidence at a crime scene and get caught using said DNA from the kit? What's the Venn diagram of those two groups?

Based on the fact that the majority of victims already don't come forward, even just one more is too fucking many.

s0nicfan posted...

I'm not being dense. I'm pushing back against the ridiculous fear-mongering tactic of saying that rape victims won't report rape if it could get them caught in a future crime. It was a stupid thing to say and legitimately hurts the arguments of people making the case that this is wrong. People all across the country are fingerprinted every day as a requirement for things like getting a passport or crossing the border. Are you going to argue that that practice is bad too because someone might leave fingerprints at a crime? The only difference between the two is the accuracy when tested.

There's an untold amount of unreported rapes out there. Stuff like this can and will have an impact.

Not sure why you're assuming that everyone goes on to get a passport or travels internationally anyway. If a rape victim is someone who tends to get in trouble with the law they're probably not in a good living situation.

Punished_Blinx posted...

There's an untold amount of unreported rapes out there. Stuff like this can and will have an impact.

Not sure why you're assuming that everyone goes on to get a passport or travels internationally anyway. If a rape victim is someone who tends to get in trouble with the law they're probably not in a good living situation.

There is nothing fundamentally different about your DNA being put into a database when you interact with police then there is you being fingerprinted or having your photo taken for a driver's license. DNA evidence is more accurate, but all of these activities provide evidence to law enforcement that could be used later to implicate you of a crime. If you want to argue that any sort of database that includes any personal information that could be used later to prove that you actually commit a crime is a bad practice, then go ahead. I just want consistency in people's arguments.

lilORANG posted...

Doesn't seem like a 4th amendment issue

It could be arguable that the woman's DNA wasn't specifically sought out for the rape case.

TheOtherMike posted...

It's not going to "ping" if they don't enter the victim's DNA into the database. This isn't an issue of not "overlooking" something, this is an issue of them misusing the victim's DNA in the first place.

they would have had to log her rape kit, which includes her DNA into evidence.

I get the stance that its an ethical overreach. But I also dont think thats going stop the consistently growing dna databases used by law enforcement all over the world and how they are collecting those samples. Just kind of the world we live in now. And I dont think most people are going to throw a big stink over it if it means connecting people to unresolved crimes, especially violent ones.

s0nicfan posted...

There is nothing fundamentally different about your DNA being put into a database when you interact with police then there is you being fingerprinted or having your photo taken for a driver's license. DNA evidence is more accurate, but all of these activities provide evidence to law enforcement that could be used later to implicate you of a crime. If you want to argue that any sort of database that includes any personal information that could be used later to prove that you actually commit a crime is a bad practice, then go ahead. I just want consistency in people's arguments.

The difference is the reasoning that people have to provide that information. If people don't want to submit their details for recording purposes then whatever. That's their problem to deal with.

If people don't want to submit a rape kit then the rapist will get away with it and will probably go on and rape someone else. That sucks.

I know it's hard to think outside of your own bubble but give it a try.

s0nicfan posted...

There is nothing fundamentally different about your DNA being put into a database when you interact with police then there is you being fingerprinted or having your photo taken for a driver's license. DNA evidence is more accurate, but all of these activities provide evidence to law enforcement that could be used later to implicate you of a crime. If you want to argue that any sort of database that includes any personal information that could be used later to prove that you actually commit a crime is a bad practice, then go ahead. I just want consistency in people's arguments.

The fact that you cant understand the difference between being fingerprinted for a license and submitting DNA to prove you were raped is infuriating, dude. If people choose not to get a license for fear of being caught in a crime, its not a loss. Oh well, so sad. If people choose not to report a fuckin rape for the same reason thats a huge problem for a multitude of reasons. And clearly you cant seem to comprehend that so Im done here.

s0nicfan posted...

There is nothing fundamentally different about your DNA being put into a database when you interact with police then there is you being fingerprinted or having your photo taken for a driver's license.

The latter are voluntary. The former is not, and I'm really wondering how it isn't a 4th Amendment violation.

Solid Snake07 posted...

they would have had to log her rape kit, which includes her DNA into evidence.

That doesn't put her DNA into the suspect database.

The good news is, at least they tested the rape kit