Mon Mar 6, 2023 – 7:18 pm EST
OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police has put its support behind a Senate bill that would allow those convicted of non-violent crimes to have samples of their DNA taken and stored in a government database.
Bill S-231, titled, An Act To Amend The Criminal Code, is sponsored by Quebec Senator Claude Carignan and is in its second reading. If passed, this bill would give police a larger scope in which they could legally collect an offender’s DNA, expanding beyond just violent offenders to include those convicted of any crime punishable by five years or more in prison, such as drunk driving, breaking and entering and theft over $5,000.
As it stands now, Canada already has in place the 2000 DNA Identification Act, which allows for DNA sampling of criminals convicted of violent crimes, such as murder, sexual assault, or hijacking.
Currently, over half a million DNA profiles are stored by government officials, which have produced some 73,000 matches to date to help ID suspects, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the Police Chiefs argue that the
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