The Legal Aid Society responded to a DNA indexing policy change announced by the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) where the City will now refuse to test DNA samples taken of people by the New York City Police Department in situations where evidence was not recovered linking them to a crime, according to the New York Daily News.

This change, which, according to OCME’s public website, went into effect in early September, bars the lab from testing DNA taken by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) solely for inclusion in the City’s rogue DNA index.

The change, which was purely voluntary on the part of the OCME, and could be reversed at any time, leaves out many of the almost 34,000 people whose DNA is currently warehoused by the City. At a recent City Council hearing, police officials testified that at least 25% of the people in the City index have never been convicted of a crime. They also testified that at least 5% of the DNA was taken from juveniles. Previous reports indicated that at least 360 Black men also had their NA taken and entered into the rogue DNA index as part of a DNA dragnet surrounding the Katrina Vetrano investigation in Howard Beach. The OCME’s policy does not provide for any removal of these individuals because it is not retroactive.

The OCME’s policy also does not end their overall maintenance of a rogue DNA index comprised of people whose DNA was entered upon arrest in violation of State law.  Children whose DNA was taken by police surreptitiously through cigarettes, sodas, or food will still be entered into the rogue index in cases where there is also evidence related to an alleged offense.  And this policy would not prevent the police from continuing to conduct wide-ranging dragnets where hundreds of people have their DNA taken, even if they are not otherwise identified as suspects in a crime.

“It does nothing to remove the tens of thousands of New Yorkers, including children, who are in the city’s DNA index unjustly and illegally. And there is no guarantee that it won’t be reversed under pressure from the NYPD as it continually expands its surveillance state,” said Terri Rosenblatt, Supervising Attorney of the DNA Unit at The Legal Aid Society.