NEW YORK (Washington Insider Magazine) – According to a federal complaint, the New York Police Department took DNA specimens without getting warrants and stored the genetic information indefinitely in an unregulated and unlawful database.
According to the lawsuit brought Monday in federal court in Manhattan, the database converts thousands of people, predominantly Latino and Black people, into lifelong criminal suspects.
According to the complaint, Shakira Leslie was also one of roughly 32,000 people whose DNA was obtained without her knowledge.
According to the complaint, Leslie was 23 years old and had just left a cousin’s birthday celebration when police hauled over the vehicle she was driving in for a traffic violation. According to the report, there was a weapon in the vehicle, and everybody was arrested.
According to the lawsuit, authorities deprived Leslie of drink and food for over 12 hours at the police precinct, so when she was eventually given a glass of water, she drank it instantly.
Leslie was freed and the accusations were dismissed, but not before the NYPD grabbed her drinking cup and DNA, according to the lawsuit, which was brought on account of Leslie and another plaintiff by the Legal Aid Society. Several top NYPD officers and the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which administers the DNA database, are named as defendants.
According to the lawsuit, police often offer individuals being interrogated about a felony a cigarette, chewing gum, or a beverage, and then gather DNA from the objects. The lawsuit says that the genetic information is saved and cataloged in a “suspect index” that runs people’s DNA profiles through a genetic lineup that matches them to all previous and future crime scene DNA evidence — without a court order or warrant.
The case will be reviewed by the New York City Law Department, according to ABC News.
Sgt. Edward Riley, a spokesperson for the NYPD, said the police will investigate the case as well, but that DNA collecting is one of the finest practices in law enforcement.
According to the lawsuit, the database breaches state regulations restricting DNA indexing by hoarding the DNA of suspects and arrestees without monitoring, typically at the expense of persons of color.