ACLU decries Cape Cod 'DNA dragnet'

BOSTON, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- The American Civil Liberties Union is seeking an end to a voluntary "DNA dragnet" by police trying to track down a killer in a Cape Cod town.

Massachusetts ACLU officials Monday called the law-enforcement action, in which police are requesting genetic tests of male residents in Truro, Mass., "a serious intrusion on personal privacy that has proven to be both ineffective and wasteful" in a letter to Truro Police Chief John Thomas and Cape Cod prosecutor Michael O'Keefe, USA Today reported.

The ACLU argues the action amounts to coercion because residents would be reluctant to refuse for fear of becoming murder suspects even though the tests are technically voluntary.

The action is related to the January 2002 slaying of fashion writer Christa Worthington. Police hope to find a DNA match of semen found at the crime scene.