The Conservatives, fired by the controversial arrest of their immigration spokeman within the House of Commons earlier this year appear to be somewhat exercised by the issue DNA sample retention by the police (Police policy on deletion of DNA records is shambles, say Conservatives | Politics | The Guardian). The dear old UK Government appears to be fighting a rearguard action to evade the judgment from Europe that the retention of DNA samples and associated data on individuals who end up either not being charged or not being found guilty infringes human rights.
Freedom of information requests to police forces in England and Wales by the shadow immigration spokesman, Damian Green, reveal a huge disparity in the way records are treated. "The force most likely to remove your DNA profile is South Yorkshire, with 83% of requests granted," said Green. "However, of the total requests to 26
different forces, less than half were granted. Some forces, including Cambridgeshire, Gloucestershire and Nottingham, refused to remove any profiles."
What's even more astonishing is the Government's belief that an individual arrested but not found guilty of a minor offence is in some way more innocent than an individual arrested but not found guilty of a serious offence. As the Guardian reports:
Home Office ministers now want to keep the DNA profiles of innocent people on the national database for six years, after failing to persuade MPs to back a period of up to 12 years for the most serious offences. But it is likely to take five or six months to change the law and the results of Green's requests show that in the meantime there are sharp variations in practice.
What kind of illogical thought processes go on in our Govenment?
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