In recent years, jurisdictions across the United States have expressed a growing interest in aiding criminal investigations through the use of familial DNA searching (FDS)- a forensic technique to identify family members through DNA databases. The National Survey of CODIS Laboratories surveyed U.S. CODIS laboratories about their perceptions, policies, and practices related to FDS. In total, 103 crime labs completed the survey (77 percent response rate). Labs in 11 states reported using FDS, while labs in 24 states reported using a similar-but distinct- practice of partial matching. Although the majority of labs had positive perceptions about the ability of FDS to assist investigations, labs also reported a number of concerns and challenges with implementing FDS. Respondents reported using either practice a limited amount, with modest numbers of convictions resulting from both FDS and partial matching. (publisher abstract modified)
Downloads
Similar Publications
- Differentiation of the 1-(Methylenedioxyphenyl)-2-Piperazinopropanes and 1-(Methoxyphenyl)-2-Piperazinopropanones by GC-IRD and GC-MS
- Investigation into Using Entomology to Improve Methods of Anthropological Post-mortem Interval Estimation
- Calculation of the Weight of Evidence for Combined Single-Cell and Extracellular Forensic DNA