The importance of DNA technology has given the police forces a better capability in solving cases involving crimes like rape, murder, theft, sex crimes, kidnapping and other criminal activities. DNA profiling has played a huge role in bringing one convict who is now free after serving a long jail term for a rape that he committed when he was free. The forensic scientist, thanks to the advancement in the field of DNA technology, has proved to be more successful in proving his case than the witnesses in the trial.
In the past, the police had a series of techniques in solving crime. For instance, they use the testimonies of witnesses. However, the major problem with this practice is that the witness’ testimonies do not provide concrete evidence and can be contradictory. The accuracy of such reports is highly dependent on the quality of the DNA database maintained by the crime lab. The new generation dna database technology has completely changed the process of identifying criminal offenders and providing proper justice through DNA testing.
Importance Of DNA Technology
The importance of DNA technology can be gauged from the fact that the technology has been adopted by forensic experts in several domains. For instance, it was a major problem before the introduction of DNA testing that identifying the gender of the offender was a big issue. Even though the new dna databases are well-maintained to take care of such situations, it still takes time, which is a hindrance in the apprehension of criminals. Nowadays, the court requires only a bit of a DNA sample from the suspect in order to determine his/her identity. Thus, the criminals who are on the watch out for possible matches have the fear of being caught even if their real identity is not known.
Implementation Of DNA Technology
Another major problem related to the efficient implementation of DNA technology in the field of forensics is that there was no method to recover the DNA profiles of the suspects from semen samples. However, this problem has been solved with the help of new DNA testing kits available today. These kits are capable of accurately and reliably detecting the genetic patterns of the DNA samples from the samples and thus this effectively helps in the identification of the culprits, particularly repeat offenders. In addition, the DNA testing system also provides the necessary intelligence to the law enforcing authorities to track down the offenders.
A major challenge that the police and other law enforcing agencies face are the catch and release policy of criminals. Criminals usually re-offend once they are caught. But, with the help of the DNA database, the law enforcing authorities are able to keep the offender in custody until he/she pays the quantum of penalties. Moreover, the database helps the police in catching repeat offenders, those who were involved in different crime, and those who failed to adhere to the stipulated probation terms. Thus, the importance of dna technology can be gauged from the fact that with the help of this database, the police officials can track down the offenders and bring them to justice, saving the nation and making the country a safer place to live in.
Apart from the law enforcement agencies, the hospitals too are following the lead of the government and are taking steps to make the crime scene clean, to reduce the chances of the offenders escaping punishment. The hospitals collect the DNA sample of the crime scene inmates, and after completion of the DNA profiling process, they upload the generated profile on the online and database. This enables the hospital staff and the nurses to follow the genetic patterns of the offenders, and thus if the offender is found repeat offenders who were involved in different crimes, his/her profile will be captured and sent for comparison with the other profiles in the DNA database.