The Legal Aid Society praised the New York City Council for announcing an oversight hearing to finally examine the City’s DNA collection and storage practices, which has attracted media attention for civil rights and privacy concerns. Legal Aid has long urged the Council to convene this hearing following news that a DNA dragnet was employed – ensnaring hundreds of black men – to identify a potential suspect in the Katrina Vetrano murder case, according to the Queens Daily Eagle.

“The NYPD’s collection of DNA for this databank targets communities of color through dragnets and surreptitious collection from water bottles and cigarettes. The public has a right to know about these genetic stop-and-frisk tactics,” said Terri Rosenblatt, Supervising Attorney of the DNA Unit at The Legal Aid Society.