Tag Archives: dna

DNA testing

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Off to Sidcup in Kent for a briefing from the Senior Met Detective in charge of Operation Minstead. In short, this is a police operation to catch a serial rapist of elderly women in South London. The crimes have been committed over the last 12 years and the police have the criminal’s DNA but have not been able to catch him.

My involvement in this case is to do with the so-called ‘voluntary’ collection of DNA to try to catch him. There is a cutting edge technique being used to genetically identify from DNA the genealogical origins of an individual.

In Minstead’s case this is a man between 25 and 40, black and from a particular area / island in the Caribbean. Using this information, the police narrowed down their ‘persons of interest’ from an original 20,000+ to 917 men. The police want to test all their DNA so they can eliminate them from their investigations. Now, not everyone was happy to be tested. If they refused they got a letter from the Met saying that a senior officer would look into the reasons for their refusal and let them know of their decision. If they still refused and there were enough grounds to arrest the refuseniks – they did. This resulted in five arrests – although two men changed their mind at the last moment.

I have a number of concerns around all of these issues. One is the change in legislation which allows the police to keep on record DNA from persons who are taken to a police station even if not arrested or anything. I am also concerned that the word ‘voluntary’ is meaningless as it is clear that what is actually happening – albeit carefully – is mandatory testing. If we’re going to have mandatory testing, there should be a proper debate – and a change in the law and rules – rather than it happening by the backdoor.

In fact a very, very senior Met Officer was talking to me about Minstead at a meeting and, when I voiced my concern over the grey area around what was ‘voluntary’, he said – “Oh voluntary is voluntary – until they say no.” No doubt he would say he was joking. Poor judgement I say.

Another key issue raised is the actual science of genetic identification in this way. It seems to me, following my time looking in detail at the use of stop and search by the police, that any of the mechanisms in the police force that are discretionary – like stop and search – can fall prey to discrimination.

This new science cannot be applied as yet to the white European population. The group is too big and the individual components are as yet unidentifiable. Thus this new forensic ‘miracle’ may have built-in discrimination. To be pursued.

MPA

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Last meeting before the summer break of the Metropolitan Police Authority. Deputy Commissioner Blair comes up for a chat with me beforehand to thank me for understanding the ‘agonising’ decisions the police have to make to catch a rapist in South London by making black men between 25 and 40 ‘voluntarily’ give a DNA sample. That will go on as an issue way beyond Operation Minstead – the issues around DNA databases and discrimination are going to get more frequent and more difficult in my view. How much information should the government or its agencies be able to force people to hand over, and what should be permissible to do with that information and by who?

There is a long debate at the meeting about the use of police cells to hold illegal immigrants. This causes huge problems as there are too few cells and if they are full of immigrants rather than criminals – there is nowhere for criminals to go.

The MPA (or rather Labour) have avoided coming to a decision so far on who should be their “link member” for Haringey. To recap – for the first four years, I had been exiled from Haringey because Labour (who chair the MPA) wanted to keep me out of Haringey in case it was to their political disadvantage for me to be on my home patch. All the other members are enabled to link with their home patch – partly for their convenience but also because of local knowledge. For the first term of office there was a valid reason why Nicky Gavron (who was the Enfield Haringey London Assembly member and lives in Haringey herself) had as good a claim to Haringey as I. But she’s no longer the Enfield Haringey member, and her replacement doesn’t live in Haringey.

But of course just because Labour insists on its own members having their own local patch, doesn’t mean they won’t try to impose different standards on other people! It’s just this sort of silly pettiness that turns people off politics.

DNA testing

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After a day at the races – where I lost every race – I am collected by the Beeb for a late night interview on the DNA issue I have been pursuing. Difficult issue – but when I get into the studio the presenter tells me and the audience that the Met have refused to put someone up for interview but have sent a statement to be read out.

In the statement they say that they are conducting this voluntary scheme asking black men between the ages of 25 and 40 to come forward to give a DNA sample to be eliminated from the police investigation into a series of rapes in South London. Towards the end of the statement they refer to only having to have arrested three people. That is my point – how voluntary is it if you refuse and are arrested because you refuse?

Police Authority

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Annual General Meeting of the new term of the Metropolitan Police Authority at which we (the members) vote for the Chair, Deputies and Chairs of committees etc.

Since the previous Chair, Labour Assembly Member Toby Harris, failed to get re-elected, Labour have been running around trying to ensure a Labour succession to the chairmanship. As at least half the so called ‘independents’ on the MPA are Labour hacks of one sort or another – Len Duvall is duly enthroned. For what it is worth, he has my support anyway. I think he’s probably the only Labour member who could do the job – and none of the other contenders could have garnered enough support.

Of course, the other member of note, was the new Home Secretary’s Independent appointment to the MPA – none other than – yes you have guessed it – that well-known, independent Toby Harris! So independent of political affiliation – not!

Anyway – rather than bore you with the rest of the nominations and positions etc, I’ll move onto the Commissioner getting a bit rattled by the discussion on Stop and Search. Having just had the explosion in the media over the rise of stops on the Asian Community under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act – he was keen to put into the arena completely different statistics.

I make my comments – and I guess we left it that we agree to disagree. I still don’t think the Met fully realise or acknowledge the extent of racial bias we found in the Stop and Search scrutiny – and I think it must be because it is subliminal – almost unintentional.

Deputy Commissioner Blair came over for a chat and to ask if I had received his letter to me in reply to my letter over the DNA testing of black men in South London to find a serial rapist who has for many years committed these crimes against elderly ladies. It is an horrific crime and the police are desperate to get their man.

However, I am of the view that this ‘voluntary’ process inviting the 1000 or so members of the community who fit the racial DNA picture to come give their DNA has some real issues around intimidation. Sir Ian Blair argues in his letter that basically the end justifies the means – and even I can see how hard it must be to know you can get him – and then not be able to do the tests. In his letter, Sir Ian says that out of ‘125 initial refusals, only need to use powers of arrest in five cases’.

I have written back to ask whether they were arrested because they refused to give DNA samples or arrested on another charge and whilst under arrest DNA was then taken. There are some very difficult issues around this taking of DNA from anyone brought to a police station whether charged or not – a result of recent changes to legislation which I believe will discriminate against ethnic communities and also begin a slippery slide to loss of civil liberties.

It is easy, when a crime is this horrific, to say it is so important that just this time we will employ effectively mandatory testing. But once protections of our rights are gone for one reason – it is so easy for them to be eroded.

I feel that the police are cross with me for pursuing this and I have had one email from an old lady in South London cross with me for questionning these tactics. But I do feel the need to follow this through.

And if it is mandatory testing – then let us have the cajones to state it outright, change legislation – but let us not have the hypocrisy of pretending there is anything voluntary about this process. And if the Government really wants a DNA database of the whole country – then let them stand on that platform and propose it publicly and have the battle. The legislation they have passed simply lets it in through the back door – and is the sort of legislation that in practice I believe will lead to the communities suffering further bias.

First day back at work

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First day back at proper work. The negotiations continue over the future workings of the GLA.

My first concern today was to expose a really scandalous letter from Met Police to black men who refused to give voluntary DNA samples in a suspect trawl in South London. The Met are trying to catch a serial rapist – a very serious criminal – and they have been able through his DNA samples to trace his ancestry. They are therefore asking the community to come forward for voluntary DNA testing to eliminate them from the inquiry.

However, you can imagine the sensitivities around this process. In an opportunity for the community and police to work together to find this criminal – it looks like the police have not been handling it too well. I am making enquiries as I write.

Later go to a meeting regarding the Highgate Tube works where residents are concerned over the finishes to the work – fencing, crash barrier and planting. This is the second of two meetings that I originally had to bang heads together so that Highgate didn’t end up looking like Colditz with terrible finishes following remedial work to stop the Archway Road falling into the station embankments.

Amazingly, after some discussion, agreement was reached on all the issues and everyone went home happy Amazing and so pleasant!

Decide I want a drink in my local in Highgate Village. Haven’t been out for a casual drink for months virtually – and wander in to find all the ‘usuals’ in there. Have a bit of a chin wag and enjoy the summer evening, or what’s left of it, with a very welcome gin and tonic!

Mayor's Question Time

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Today was Mayor’s Question Time at City Hall. As ever much of the debate was around transport issues – and as I lead on Transport for the LibDems as well as being Chair of the Transport Committee, I get to do all the talking.

Mayor Livingstone, the Tories, Labour etc al. – they all had a go at the LibDems for one thing or another. I can only assume that they are all feeling threatened. The Tories are apoplectic because we have come out against the Mayor’s proposals to extend the Congestion Charge westwards into Kensington & Chelsea. When the Tories are against congestion charging – no one blinks with surprise. But when the LibDems, who are 100% supporters of the congestion charge say no to the extension – then the Mayor really ought to take notice.

Firstly it’s premature. We won’t have any of the proper analysis from the monitoring data until next February – nothing about the impact on business, the economy or the social aspects of the charge. Secondly – it’s going to cost £120million that we haven’t got to set it up – and there will be roughly break even when up between income and running costs. When there is so much that needs doing, it wouldn’t be my first choice for that £120million.

Also – it’s the wrong technological way forward. We must move to Global Satellite Positioning so that we can target congested hot spots – the blunt tool of area charging won’t work to expand the scheme. The first central area was OK because there was a definable logic – people coming into and going home from work.

Congestion Charging needs to grow up and become far more sophisticated and planned for those areas that need it and want it anywhere in London – not just Zone 1.

Only fools (and Ken) rush in …

The other battle we had was over the Governments’ CriminJusticetic Bill to which the LibDems had put down an amendment. What the Government is suggesting is that anyone who is detained at a police station should have

a DNA test AND that the records should be held in perpetuity regardless of whether that person goes onto be charged or convicted. So even if completely innocent – that person would forever have their DNA on record. Moving towards a police state very fast at the moment with ID cards, CCTV cameras, removal of trial by jury.

Obviously there is a balance between catching and incarceratinging criminals and civil liberties – but it is too easy to become draconian in justice’s name and to wake up and find that we live in a state not so different to the communist states we used to loathe. Big Brother is knocking on our door.

If the Government wants to keep a DNA register of citizens – then let it fight for that and have a proper debate – not remove our freedoms by stealth.