The DNA database
英国DNA数据库

Slightly less big brother

Nov 12th 2009
From The Economist print edition

The vast police directory is trimmed, but only a little
整理了庞大的警查目录，但这只是九牛一毛

AT THE start of the 20th century, Scotland Yard’s fingerprint bureau began a quiet revolution in policing. A hundred years on, detectives have a new tool at their disposal in the form of DNA matching. In 1995 the government set up a national database recording the DNA of everyone who was convicted of a crime, hoping that it would make future cases easier to crack. Since then the England and Wales database has swollen to 5.5m entries, covering 4.8m citizens (some profiles are duplicates), or some 9% of the population. It is thought to be the biggest DNA database in the world. Despite plans announced this week to limit its growth, it looks likely to stay that way.
20世纪初，伦敦警察厅指纹局悄无声息地开始了一场警界革命。一百年以来，侦探们一直拥有可以随意使用的DNA匹配工具。1995年，英国政府建立了国家数据库，记录每一位犯人的DNA，希望将来可以更轻易地查案。自那以后，英国和威尔士的数据库有550万个条目，涵盖480万公民，或9%的人口的资料（有一些资料重复）。人们认为，这是世界上最大的数据库。尽管本周有计划宣布限制其增长，但该数据库似乎只能那样。

The reason for the database’s size is that since 2004 it has included not just those convicted of crimes but those who have been merely arrested. As far as police are concerned, the bigger the pool, the more chance of a match with their next crime scene. But the inclusion of people who have never committed a crime has been controversial. Up to a million of those in the database do not have a conviction. Chief constables have the discretion to remove profiles if they choose, but that seldom happens. One MP, Diane Abbott, is running surgeries to show her constituents how to appeal. Still, only a few hundred profiles are deleted each year.
此数据库如此庞大的原因是，自2004年起，它不仅囊括了那些犯过罪的人，还包括那些仅仅只是被逮捕了的人的资料。警察认为，数据库越大，他们下一次犯罪场景的DNA匹配机会也越大。但是，将那些从来没犯过罪的人包括进来一直驳有争议。数据库里有100万人没有犯过罪。郡警察局长可以随意移走数据库的资料，但这鲜少发生。Diane Abbott议员正在经营诊所，向她的委托人展示如何上诉。然而，每年仍旧只有数百份资料被删除。

Last December the European Court of Human Rights ruled that holding so many innocent people’s DNA records “could not be regarded as necessary in a democratic society”. On November 11th the Home Office released plans to trim the number of people being included—a bit. People arrested and released will still have their DNA held, but only for six years. Under-18s in the same situation will stay on the database for three years.
去年12月，欧洲人权法院裁定，持有众多份无辜人民的DNA记录，“在民主社会里，是完全没必要的”。11月11日， 总机构出台一些计划，对数据库中的人数稍加整理。仍然保留那些被逮捕、随后被释放的人的DNA，但只会保留6年。18岁以下、同等情况的人的DNA则只会保留3年。

As is now customary, the plans include tougher rules on terrorism: those cleared of terror offences could still have their DNA held indefinitely, subject to regular reviews. And the Home Office proposes to give the police the power to take DNA from people who have convictions pre-dating the database. No one knows how many are in this group, but the back catalogue could inflate the database dramatically. Chris Sims, the chief constable with responsibility for the database, expects forces to use the power “proactively”.
与现行的惯例一样，该计划包括一些对恐怖主义更加严厉的政策：那些脱离恐怖犯罪者的DNA仍可能被无限期地保留，视定期审视而定。同时，总机构提议，让警察有权从那些判过刊的人身上提取DNA，提前输入到数据库里。没有人知道这类人有多少，but the back catalogue could inflate the database dramatically。负责该数据库的郡警察局长Chris Sims估计，军队会“积极地”运用此权力。

Whether the European Court will be satisfied with these tweaks remains to be seen. The opposition Conservatives say that if they win power at the approaching general election they will copy the Scottish system, in which people who are not convicted usually have their DNA removed from the database as soon as the case against them is dropped. Keeping the records of those who have done nothing wrong undermines the traditional presumption of innocence, the Tories say.
这些妙计是否能让欧洲法院满意，我们拭目以待。反对党派保守党人士表示，如果他们能在即将举行的普选中获胜，他们将采用苏格兰体系，即，对那些被判无罪的人，一旦案子撤消，通常会将其DNA从数据库里消除。托利党人士称，保留那些没有犯任何错误的人的记录，损害了对无辜的传统设想。

The government argues that shrinking the pool of people on the database means that fewer crimes will be solved. The Association of Chief Police Officers examined a set of homicide and rape cases from last year in which a DNA match had been made with a profile on the national database. In about a tenth of these cases, the match was with someone who was on the database despite not having a conviction.
政府则认为，缩减数据库里的人数意味着破案会越来越少。英国首席警官协会(ACPO) 研究了自去年以来发生的一系列杀人和强奸案例，国家数据库的一个案子与一个DNA相匹配。有大约十分之一的案例，匹配者为数据库的某人，尽管这人并没有被判过刑。

Home Office boffins justify the six-year retention of innocents’ DNA with research showing that people who are let off after an arrest are more likely than the general public to be rearrested. Their likelihood of rearrest only drops back to average levels after six years, the number-crunchers found. (Interestingly, juveniles take longer to return to a “normal” risk profile than adults, leading Home Office scientists to note that there is a case for retaining their DNA for longer than that of adults, not shorter, as the government has decided.)
总机构的科研技术人员证明，保留无辜者的DNA6年的做法是正确的。研究表明，经逮捕后释放的人比一般大众更有可能被再次逮捕。这些同数字打交道的技术人员发现，6年后，他们再次被逮捕可能性才有可能降至平均水平。（有意思的是，青少年要比成年人花更长的时间才能回归至“一般”风险类人群，这使得总机构的科学家注意到，要更长时间地保留他们的DNA，而非政府已决定的更短。）