DNA Testing To Take Place In Courthouses
(WJZ) BALTIMORE Maryland's DNA database holds the genetic identity of tens of thousands of felons and is credited with solving even more crimes, and in an effort to beef up the database even more, the samples are now being taken even before the inmate leaves the courthouse.
Most recently, Baltimore City police solved the murder of Shirley Myers after 13 years thanks to the DNA database. Anne Arundel County found a wanted rapist in Illinois the same way.
"It indicates the value of the DNA database. Now people can hide for a while, but they can't hide for long. Sooner or later we'll find them," State Police Superintendent Tim Hutchins told WJZ's Suzanne Collins.
In 2003, there had only been 39 successful matches from Maryland's database. Since then, that number has climbed to over 500. More than 269 offenders have been tracked down, even in other states. And more than 188 crimes have been linked, even if police still don't know whose DNA they've discovered.
The DNA database has also freed innocent prisoners like Bernard Webster.
"That's my freedom right there. That's what got me to where I'm at right now," Webster said.
State prisons and jails test for DNA, but now state police are expanding courthouse testing after signing an agreement with Howard County on Tuesday. That means inmates will be swabbed before leaving the courthouse.
For example, someone convicted of a sex crime for the first time may not get time behind bars -- just probation. This way their DNA is collected and police say that's important because often those convicted of a sex crime re-offend.
As the database builds, families of crime victims who have waited decades for an arrest now can hold some hope.
With the DNA testing now being installed at courthouses, testing will still also take place at prisons and local jails. The only area where testing is backlogged is for those out on parole and probation.
The database was created 12 years ago, but most of the successful hits didn't come until this year.
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