San Francisco police have been entering DNA from rape victims into a criminal database in order to link them with crimes, District Attorney Chesa Boudin claimed this week. He called the practice “legally and ethically wrong” and said it should come to a stop immediately.
“I am disturbed that victims who have the courage to undergo an invasive examination to help identify their perpetrators are being treated like criminals rather than supported as crime victims. We should encourage survivors to come forward — not collect evidence to use against them in the future. This practice treats victims like evidence, not human beings,” Boudin explained.
The District Attorney’s Office dropped a recent property crime case because of the practice, which could violate the Constitution and California’s Victims' Bill of Rights Act.
Police Chief Bill Scott said he would immediately begin investigating, calling Boudin’s allegations “sufficiently concerning.”
“Whatever disagreements Dist. Atty. Boudin and I may have, we agree that this issue needs to be addressed,” Scott said. “At the end of the day, our respective departments exist to do justice for victims of crime. The last thing we should ever do is discourage their cooperation with us to accomplish that.”