Public/family concerns for providing DNA in missing persons cases: Paper 2: The main concerns raised and implications for policing policy.

Identification of unidentified human remains, and long-term missing persons (LTMP) is imperative, allowing for missing persons to be reunited with their families, which could provide closure to families experiencing ongoing ambiguity surrounding the situation. However, identification remains problematic for several reasons, including the absence of DNA provision in the investigation. The research reported here is the second in a two-part series exploring public/family support for providing DNA in LTMP cases. In the first study, quantitative results showed that participants had concerns when asked if they thought there would be implications for a person providing DNA to police in LTMP cases. The aim of this second study was to explore further using qualitative methods the nuances and themes underpinning concerns for providing DNA in LTMP cases. Participants described their concerns about providing DNA in four hypothetical LTMP case scenarios (a child, an adult with dementia, a runaway 19-year-old adolescent, and an estranged adult). Through thematic content analysis, ten themes were identified. Nine themes run across all four LTMP case scenarios. The tenth theme was only observed in two scenarios; cases involving adolescents with a history of runaway, and in cases involving adults estranged from their family. Results showed public concerns differed according to LTMP case circumstances. Key findings point to public education about how DNA is used in LTMP investigations, the applicable legislation relating to police use of DNA in investigations and increasing public awareness around the benefits of DNA use in LTMP investigations. Potentional policy options are discussed that could guide the future development of nuanced police practice in different types of LTMP cases.

Public and family support and concerns for providing DNA to law enforcement in long-term missing person cases.

The identification of long-term missing persons and unidentified human remains is a global challenge. Many people stay on missing persons registers, with unidentified human remains stored for extended periods in mortuaries around the world. Research exploring public and/or family support for providing DNA in long-term missing persons cases is scarce. The aims of this study were to examine whether trust in police predicted the level of support for providing DNA and explore public/family support and concerns for providing DNA in such cases. Trust in police was measured through two widely used empirical attitude scales; "The Measures of Police Legitimacy and Procedural Justice". Support and concerns for giving DNA were measured through four hypothetical missing persons case scenarios. The results showed more positive attitudes towards police legitimacy and procedural justice significantly predicted support, with the percentage level of positive support across the four case types as follows: cases involving a long-term missing child (89%), elderly adult with dementia (83%), young adult with a history of runaway (76%), with the lowest level of support for an adult with an estranged family (73%). Participants also reported more concerns about providing DNA when the missing person circumstances involved family estrangement. Understanding levels of public/family support and concerns around providing DNA to police in missing persons cases is vital to ensure that DNA collection practices reflect what the public/family support and, wherever possible, alleviate public concerns.

Attitudes towards police use of consumer/private DNA databases in investigations.

Consumer DNA products, such as databases that allow the public to explore familial relationships, have recently been used by police to assist in investigations. This has moved the collection of DNA used in criminal investigations away from the limitations of criminal databases and has opened up ethical concerns regarding privacy and consent. This study explored public attitudes and support towards police use of consumer DNA databases in investigations to assess whether different crime types or moral and attitude alignments influenced the level of public support of police using these consumer products. An international survey of 438 adults, using theory and scales pertaining specifically to retributive punishment and attitudes towards law, courts and police, found that moral alignment and attitudes did influence the level of public acceptability towards police usage of these techniques and that support did vary based on crime type. This research found that higher levels of public support was given for the most serious case types explored (sexual assault and homicide). Participant support for police access to private DNA databases by case type was as follows; 83.5% for sexual assault, 83.2% for homicide, 85.2% for identifying unidentified human remains, 62.8% for robbery and 58.9% for illicit drug related cases. Small to medium effects sizes were observed for these results. Although these findings provided context towards public attitudes, further research specific to international attitude differences and variance between serious crime types and public acceptability could further develop these findings.

Operationalising forensic genetic genealogy in an Australian context.

Forensic genetic genealogy, a technique leveraging new DNA capabilities and public genetic databases to identify suspects, raises specific considerations in a law enforcement context. Use of this technique requires consideration of its scientific and technical limitations, including the composition of current online datasets, and consideration of its scientific validity. Additionally, forensic genetic genealogy needs to be considered in the relevant legal context to determine the best way in which to make use of its potential to generate investigative leads while minimising its impact on individual privacy. This article presents these issues from an Australian perspective, with the observations and conclusions likely to be applicable to other jurisdictions.

Massively parallel sequencing and the emergence of forensic genomics: Defining the policy and legal issues for law enforcement.

Use of DNA in forensic science will be significantly influenced by new technology in coming years. Massively parallel sequencing and forensic genomics will hasten the broadening of forensic DNA analysis beyond short tandem repeats for identity towards a wider array of genetic markers, in applications as diverse as predictive phenotyping, ancestry assignment, and full mitochondrial genome analysis. With these new applications come a range of legal and policy implications, as forensic science touches on areas as diverse as 'big data', privacy and protected health information. Although these applications have the potential to make a more immediate and decisive forensic intelligence contribution to criminal investigations, they raise policy issues that will require detailed consideration if this potential is to be realised. The purpose of this paper is to identify the scope of the issues that will confront forensic and user communities.

Forensic DNA phenotyping: Developing a model privacy impact assessment.

Forensic scientists around the world are adopting new technology platforms capable of efficiently analysing a larger proportion of the human genome. Undertaking this analysis could provide significant operational benefits, particularly in giving investigators more information about the donor of genetic material, a particularly useful investigative lead. Such information could include predicting externally visible characteristics such as eye and hair colour, as well as biogeographical ancestry. This article looks at the adoption of this new technology from a privacy perspective, using this to inform and critique the application of a Privacy Impact Assessment to this emerging technology. Noting the benefits and limitations, the article develops a number of themes that would influence a model Privacy Impact Assessment as a contextual framework for forensic laboratories and law enforcement agencies considering implementing forensic DNA phenotyping for operational use.