UPDATE: FBI Asked To Launch Investigation Of SFPD Use Of Sexual Assault Victim's DNA
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- FBI Director Christopher Wray was urged Tuesday to launch a federal investigation into just how widespread the practice has become of using the DNA profiles of sexual assault victims to search generic databases for their possible involvement in other crimes.
In a letter to Wray, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) cited the recent disclosure that San Francisco police had deployed such a tactic as 'deeply disturbing.'
"Though there are still many unanswered questions about the extent of this practice, the fact it may have occurred at all is deeply disturbing," he wrote. "I fear it will have a chilling effect on sexual assault reporting ... Any perception among victims that law enforcement views them as a potential offender could further reduce already low rates of reporting of sexual assaults."
SFPD Chief Bill Scott said he's halted the practice and would welcomed the FBI's involvement.
"At the San Francisco Police Department, last week's revelations caused me to take immediate steps to halt any possibility of a misuse of DNA profiles of victims and survivors moving forward," Scott said in a statement. "We are still in the process of reviewing the underlying case, and our comprehensive review of SFPD's Forensic Science Division's DNA policies and practices also remains underway at this time."
"We welcome the involvement of our partners at the FBI to review our practices, and we are committed to working with Rep. Schiff on any federal legislation necessary to clarify or strengthen protections for DNA profiles voluntarily submitted to police for the purposes of solving crimes."
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin sparked the public debate over the practice after learning that the SFPD had linked a woman to a recent property crime by using DNA from her years-old rape kit.
Boudin said using a victim's stored data to investigate an entirely different crime could be a search and seizure violation, in addition to discouraging other sexual assault victims from coming forward.
Meanwhile, State Senator Scott Wiener has called the alleged practice "extremely troubling" and said his office was looking into whether state law allows rape-kit DNA to be used in future, unrelated cases.
"If that is allowed under current California law, then we're definitely going to look at legislation to outlaw it," he added.
Schiff was equally outraged by the practice and wants to find out if is being deployed elsewhere. Since the FBI maintains the Combined DNA Index System, it's a good place to start.
"As the administrator of the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), the FBI is uniquely positioned to prevent any federal, state, or local law enforcement agency from improperly uploading DNA profiles obtained from crime victims," he wrote in his letter to Wray.
"Do current federal laws and regulations permit law enforcement agencies to upload DNA profiles obtained from crime victims to the National DNA Index System's offender database? If so, what is the extent of this practice, and do you plan to prohibit it and expunge any profiles uploaded?," he added.
