Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and committee members.
The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police is very pleased to be invited to make submissions to this committee regarding the statutory review of the DNA Identification Act. DNA testing has become an indispensable tool in the fight against crime, and we are committed to participating in any process that can make it more effective.
It is an overarching proposition of the CACP that the effectiveness of this tool relies upon the size of the data bank and the timeliness of submission. The sooner and the greater the number of samples that go into the bank, the better the chances of finding a match, helping to solve and prevent crime and eliminate an innocent party. We strongly believe that legislation should, as much as possible, support this proposition with reasonable limits and safeguards that respect privacy.
We note that the DNA data bank holds approximately 153,000 DNA profiles on the convicted offender index, equivalent to less than 0.5% of the population of Canada, as opposed to the U.K. scheme, which has approximately 7%. The crime scene index is also underpopulated, with a current volume of approximately 47,000 profiles. This is largely attributable to the DNA analysis capacity, of which I will speak later.
The application of science to identification through DNA is undoubtedly the most significant aid to police investigation to date. It is the most positive identifier of victims and suspects alike, and provides courts with irrefutable proof of identity as an aid to the conviction of the guilty and the exoneration of the innocent.
The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police was founded in 1905 and incorporated as a non-profit organization. The association is dedicated to the support and promotion of efficient law enforcement and to the security of the people of Canada. The CACP is national in character. Its interests and concerns have relevance to police at all levels, including municipal, regional, provincial, and federal. Our board of directors includes chiefs, commissioners, and directors of police services who are representative of the widespread regions of Canada and who are elected by the membership.
Our association has long been a proponent of the effective use of DNA as a means of identifying viable criminal suspects and eliminating innocent people. During the 1990s the association strongly advocated for and supported the government in the creation of a national DNA data bank. Since then, we have taken all opportunities to participate fully in any process that would improve the scheme and enhance public safety
In August 2000 the CACP adopted resolution 2000-04, which expressed concerns that if no peace officer were available to escort convicted persons, and those persons chose to leave, there would be no ability to compel them to re-appear to give a sample. The government recognized this omission, and corrected it under Bill C-13.
In October 2002, pursuant to the DNA data bank legislative paper 2002, we also took the opportunity to advocate for the list of designated offences in the Criminal Code to include those offences known to be precursors of more serious crimes. For example, serial murderers and serial sex offenders do not begin at that level, but start with offences such as trespassing at night and stalking. We were pleased to see this was acted upon in Bill C-13.
However, we believe that the government should also have given consideration to including other precursor offences, such as prowling or trespassing at night, and indeed offences related to the possession of prohibited and restricted weapons. Certainly the ability to obtain samples arising from the illegal possession of weapons would be of great assistance to us in British Columbia in the investigation of gang crime.
We also took the position that the DNA samples should be collected from individuals deemed not responsible at the time the offence was committed. Such a finding really means that they did commit the offence, but simply were unaware of the nature and circumstances of it. Clearly, the possibilities existed that they had previously committed offences, and if released in the future they could do so again. Again, we are pleased to see this was included in Bill C-13.
Finally, Bill C-13 also brought us to the point where all murders, including a single murder, would be included, as would be a single sexual assault, rather than the previous requirement of two or more. Again, that allows us to put into the data bank people who have shown a propensity to a crime and may have done others previously.
In sum, the CACP is grateful and honoured to be given the opportunity to provide a perspective and to work with the government to find ways to use DNA to enhance public safety.
With the committee's indulgence, I'd now like to comment on several issues connected with the act that concern the members of our association and police officers in general. My comments will be somewhat global in nature and will not deal with specific legislative amendments. I will leave that discussion to subject-matter experts and the legislative drafters.
In general, police view DNA quite literally as a biological fingerprint, and they naturally seek congruence with the Identification of Criminals Act. Amendments to the act over the years have led to significant progress in achieving this congruity, but gaps remain. The comments that I will make are within this context and build toward this congruity.
Section 4 of the DNA Identification Act declares as a first principle:
The protection of society and the administration of justice are well served by the early detection, arrest, and conviction of offenders, which can be facilitated by the use of DNA profiles.
It is the CACP position that earlier sampling and the greater the number of profiles in the data bank, the earlier and greater the likelihood of solving and preventing crime. Limitations on designated offences, on authorization processes, on the point at which a sample is taken, and on retention rules serve to frustrate this aim. We believe that an alignment of the DNA Identification Act with the Identification of Criminals Act would remedy these shortcomings and include the necessary safeguards.
We would contend that maintaining convicted-offender profiles and the acquisition of DNA by buccal sample is a little more invasive than fingerprints, and that the rules governing the taking and retention of fingerprints are easily transposed to the DNA samples. Indeed, as science and technology evolve, the practical securing of suitable DNA from a person fingerprinted without ink seems a very real possibility.
Congruency with the Identification of Criminals Act would extend the list of designated offences to include those that could be proceeded by way of indictment or summary conviction, and thus capture precursor offences, such as trespass by night, stalking, and other offences currently excluded where DNA would facilitate identification and prosecution, such as dangerous driving.
As important as the above is when the samples are taken, many jurisdictions, such as the U.S., U.K. and Australia, follow a model of on-arrest sampling. This, or at-charge sampling, significantly increases the volume and timeliness of profiles placed in the data bank, leading to greater detection and prevention of subsequent offences. The taking of at-charge samples is congruent with the Identification of Criminals Act.
Congruency with the Identification of Criminals Act would also permit the DNA sampling of deceased persons. This, again, would aid in the identification of missing persons, the solving of crime, and the bringing of closure to victims of crime.