Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 47 orensic DNA testing often conjures up an image of tech- nicians armed with pipets, looking gravely into mysteri- ous blue fluids, and big, intimidat- ing machines. But what if a new technology did to those technicians what e-mail did to the mailman? The impact is perhaps less dra- matic, but a high-tech, rapid DNA device promises to turn DNA testing — a process that often takes weeks or months from the point of extraction, mailing, receiving, inventory, and analysis — into a fully auto- mated, hands-free procedure that wraps in less than two hours. "The idea with rapid DNA is to do what's already done in the lab- oratories, but instead of sending the sample to the lab, do it right at booking [in police stations] or right at a travelling laboratory," says Cecilia Hageman, professor of forensic science at the University of Ontario Insti- tute of Technology. "This says we're going to bypass the laboratory; we're just going to put the sample in, have the profile spit out." In the United States, the FBI is currently seeking to use the rapid DNA technology in law enforcement, particularly in police stations and at crime scenes. Unlike in Can- ada, many American jurisdictions allow for collection of DNA samples from arrestees, which then get added into a national DNA databank. Samples collected on arrest are checked against DNA evidence in open investigations — such as those collected from break-and-enter or sexual assault crime scenes — to see if that particular arrestee is implicated in unsolved cases. "We believe that the efficiencies obtained from the real-time analysis of an arrestee's DNA sample has tremendous potential to improve public safety by focus- ing law enforcement investigative resources and assisting in identifying putative per- petrators before they are released from custody," said Amy Hess, the FBI's executive assistant director of science and technol- ogy in a statement before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on crime, terrorism, homeland security, and investigations in June. The real-time notification of a DNA hit against open cases also conserves investiga- tive resources, Hess told the committee, but it also means no time is lost in the inves- tigation of crimes. "Equally as important will be the protection of the public when perpetrators are identified at the point of collection before being released back into their communities at the completion of the normal booking process," she said. Currently, in both the U.S. and Canada, federal laws require that accredited labo- ratories generate genetic data for addition to the national DNA databank in compli- ance with specific rules. But "rapid DNA technology has been designed for use by law enforcement agencies at the point of L E G A L R E P O RT \ C R I M I N A L & F O R E N S I C S FAYE ROGERS Not so fast with that rapid DNA Testing on new device has begun in Canada, but it's not likely to be in widespread use any time soon. By Yamri Taddese F

• Cover