Psycho Killer, Qu'est-ce que c'est?

Daytona cops to take DNA in all arrests
They hope a database will help catch a serial killer.

February 7, 2008

[...]
"DNA is going to replace fingerprints soon. Whether we're doing it now for the serial-killer investigation or whatever . . . DNA is going to be useful as a tool."
[...]
The chief said the DNA that is collected -- from any type of arrest and within the parameters of the law -- will be sent to the state's database. He hopes the effort, in the long term, will help area law-enforcement agencies solve a number of crimes.
[...]
he adamantly squashed rumors Wednesday that his officers were swabbing every person stopped for a traffic infraction.

"We are not setting up a traffic roadblock or swabbing people we stop for traffic violations," he said.

Yet on the same day another local news outlet reported:

Police Swabbing Mouths During Traffic Stops In Serial Killer Hunt

February 7, 2008

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Police officers in Daytona Beach are swabbing the mouths of persons of interests during traffic stops with special DNA kits in the hunt for an elusive serial killer, sources close to the investigation told Local 6.
[...]
Agents are using the DNA kits to collect as much DNA as possible during traffic stops and special operations in hopes on making a match.

Local 6 showed agents stopping a person of interest from Canada, who gave his DNA to officers on the street using the DNA kit.

So whether it was just bad reporting or the police chief flat out lied when he said collecting DNA wouldn't happen during traffic stops the real tell is when he said "Whether we're doing it now for the serial-killer investigation or whatever . . . DNA is going to be useful as a tool"

So they're just using an extreme event to justify what they've wanted to do all along. Sound familiar?

And if you're a proponent of the 'if you have nothing to hide you shouldn't be worried' POV, it's been debunked over and over. Even evangelical christians get it.

And our founding fathers especially got it:The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Is there anything more unreasonable about searching our persons than the collection of our DNA? Without a warrant? Without probable cause? With no excuse except, as Chief Wiggams Chitwood stated they are "a person of interest."

In this particular case chief wiggams is interested in white males with a girlfriend or wife. That's a lot of persons of interest.

DNA carries information about you, your parents, your siblings, your children ... and maybe enough info to create another you. That seems to be the uber-definition of unreasonable search and seizure.

Not to mention that our government is notoriously bad about protecting our data that they already have, misusing it, and completely inept about applying it in the real world.




Cross posted at VidiotSpeak