The Legal Aid Society commended the New York City Council for introducing legislation that will prohibit the New York City Police Department from collecting DNA from a minor without consent from a parent, legal guardian or attorney, as reported by THE CITY.

While a solid step forward, Legal Aid also called on the Council to pass legislation immediately outlawing all surreptitious DNA collection and eradicating the City’s rogue DNA index.

“For far too long, the NYPD has engaged in secretive methods to take DNA from children without even securing consent from their parent,” said Lisa Freeman, Director of the Special Litigation Unit with the Juvenile Rights Practice at The Legal Aid Society.

“To fully correct the injustices born of these offensive tactics, we call on the City Council to pass legislation immediately outlawing all surreptitious DNA collection and eradicating the city’s rogue DNA index,” she continued.