San Francisco Cops Used DNA From Rape Victim to Later Arrest Her

The San Francisco Police Department has used DNA obtained for a girl’s rape equipment to later arrest her over a property crime, based on a horrifying announcement from San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin on Monday. And Boudin suggests this won’t be the one case of this occurring.

Cops typically search DNA databases to match samples obtained after crimes are dedicated. But operating a DNA pattern from the sphere by way of a database of sexual assault victims completely boggles the thoughts, which is apparently what occurred in a minimum of one case of an unnamed sufferer who was later arrested based mostly on DNA from her personal rape equipment.

It’s unclear exactly what number of instances the stunning tactic, first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, has been utilized by the San Francisco Police, not to mention by different police departments throughout the nation.

“Rapes and sexual assault are violent, dehumanizing, and traumatic. I am disturbed that victims who have the courage to undergo an invasive examination to help identify their perpetrators are being treated like criminals rather than supported as crime victims,” Boudin stated in an announcement printed on the District Attorney’s Office website.

“We should encourage survivors to come forward—not collect evidence to use against them in the future,” Boudin continued. “This practice treats victims like evidence, not human beings. This is legally and ethically wrong. My office is demanding that this practice end immediately, and is encouraging local and state legislators to introduce legislation to end this practice in California. We remain committed to doing everything in our power to support survivors of sexual violence.”

The use of DNA from victims would nearly actually be thought of a violation of the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable “search and seizure.” But even when the method was someway discovered to be constitutional, it’s simply widespread sense that fewer girls would need to come ahead to report being victims of rape in the event that they thought their DNA could be used towards them.

San Francisco police chief Bill Scott has began an inner investigation, based on KTLA.

“We must never create disincentives for crime victims to cooperate with police, and if it’s true that DNA collected from a rape or sexual assault victim has been used by SFPD to identify and apprehend that person as a suspect in another crime, I’m committed to ending the practice,” Scott stated.

At least the cops appear to have acknowledged what they did as flawed. Will that result in reform and an entire cessation of the observe? We’re not going to carry our breath on that, given the lack of actual reforms handed within the wake of George Floyd’s killing in the summertime of 2020.