Olympia, Washington – On Wednesday, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said that nearly 2,700 DNA samples from criminals had been added to a nationwide database for law enforcement.
According to the Attorney General’s office, the collection was part of a project to get DNA samples from criminals who were supposed to give their samples to the state but didn’t.
The DNA samples were added to the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), which is used by police and prosecutors to solve major crimes and give victims justice.
Washington law says that people who have been accused of violent crimes or sex crimes must usually give DNA samples.
However, the Attorney General’s office says that there wasn’t a good way to make sure that DNA was collected and recorded before a law was passed in 2023 that made that process easier.
Ferguson said that 372 DNA samples from sex offenders would be added to CODIS in May 2022.
The new announcement names murderers and rapists who have been found guilty. The Attorney General thinks that the extra evidence will help solve unsolved crimes and free people who were wrongfully convicted.
Ferguson’s office said, “Getting lawfully owed DNA from qualifying offenders helps solve more crimes.”
The WA Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs says that from 2021 to 2022, the number of deaths in Washington rose by 16%. Between those two dates, violent crimes went up by 8.9 percent.
