San Francisco police chief assures steps taken to halt misuse of rape victim's DNA
SFPD chief sheds light on rape kit DNA allegations, says suspect also IDd on criminal database
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott on Wednesday pledged to investigate allegations the city crime lab used DNA from a rape kit to identify a criminal suspect – while explaining that the unnamed suspect’s DNA was found in a "quality assurance" database before it came back as a match in a criminal database.
San Francisco Chief of Police William Scott said Tuesday he has taken steps to halt his department's possible misuse of DNA evidence collected from victims of crime, such as rape and sexual assault, to link them as suspects to unrelated crimes.
Following criticism from city, state and federal officials, Scott issued a statement Tuesday afternoon that he shares "concerns that such a practice risks having a chilling effect on sexual assault reporting. We must never create disincentives for crime victims or survivors to cooperate with police."
One week ago, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin called the practice illegal.
In response, Scott said in a statement released the night of Wednesday, Feb. 16, that he shared Boudin's concerns and pledged to review the department's practices and policies collecting DNA evidence.
D.A. Boudin says police DNA rape kit practice is not limited to San Francisco
San Francisco's district attorney is denouncing what he calls a routine practice of using DNA obtained from sexual assault kits to arrest those victims if they commit a crime at a later date. District Attorney Chesa Boudin is saying this practice is not limited to San Francisco.
On Friday, Mano Raju of the city's Public Defender's Office said the practice tramples on the public's constitutionally protected privacy rights and called it an abuse of state power.
On Tuesday, U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, wrote a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray that asked him to investigate how police agencies around the country are using such evidence. The letter also urged Wray to review the existing protections in place to ensure the integrity of the federal DNA database.
Later Tuesday, the police department released a statement from Scott shortly before 4 p.m.
"Last week's revelations caused me to take immediate steps to halt any possibility of a misuse of DNA profiles of victims and survivors moving forward," Scott said in the statement. "We are still in the process of reviewing the underlying case, and our comprehensive review of SFPD's Forensic Science Division's DNA policies and practices also remains underway at this time."
Scott's statement added, "We welcome the involvement of our partners at the FBI to review our practices, and we are committed to working with Rep. Schiff on any federal legislation necessary to clarify or strengthen protections for DNA profiles voluntarily submitted to police for the purposes of solving crimes."