Lancaster-Warwick-Stirling node

A  report has been released  written by Brian Francis which examines the new published scientific evidence of the DNA and fingerprint retention policy under the old Labour government. The new evidence was produced after substantial criticism of the earler research published in the DNA consultation document. 

 
 Download report  (PDF, 0.6Mb)
While the methodological approach used by the Home Office in their report is now broadly correct, our main concern is the lack of a proper analysis which addresses the research question of interest, namely how does the year by year conviction risk profile of those arrested but not found guilty compare with those of the same age and sex who are not arrested? The use of re-arrest as a proxy for conviction in the scientific analysis is unsatisfactory, as there is research evidence that prior arrest is a risk factor for subsequent arrest independent of subsequent criminality.
The new coalition government is likely to change the retention policy, but this has not yet been announced.