The Legal Aid Society, in a recently issued letter called on the Mayor and the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) to shut down the City’s rogue DNA index and, in the meantime, to issue progress reports detailing the City’s ​promised efforts to reduce its size, according to NY1. This demand comes after Legal Aid learned last month that the index now contains at least 2,000 more people than what was disclosed at a February hearing, bringing the total to more than 33,800 profiles

“Six months ago we shared with the City our clients’ and their families’ concerns that if lawmakers refused to shut down the City’s rogue DNA index, it would only grow larger, more secretive, and more racially biased. That is exactly what has happened. It is time for the city to stop secretly stealing and cataloging DNA from Black and Latinx young people,” said Terri Rosenblatt, Supervising Attorney of the DNA Unit at The Legal Aid Society.