Genetic Surveillance
For years, the NYPD violated New York State DNA privacy protections by collecting New Yorkers’ DNA secretly, banking children’s DNA without parental permission, and conducting stop-and-spit campaigns in BIPOC communities, DNA dragnets that invade thousands of New Yorkers’ genetic privacy in the hope of stumbling across a single suspect.
Those the NYPD puts in its rogue database become permanent suspects, their DNA scanned thousands of times a year in cases where they have no connection whatsoever.
Every scan is an invitation for injustice, with DNA contamination and laboratory mix-ups driving false arrests and wrongful convictions. Even worse, the NYPD’s experimental DNA techniques may leave many of their claims (and resulting convictions) in doubt.
