Japan to create criminal DNA database

TOKYO, April 28 (UPI) -- Japanese police are setting up a system to enable them to collect DNA samples from criminal suspects, upon gaining court permission.

The National Police Agency will start compiling the database after discussing the matter at a conference of specialists, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Thursday.

The agency started compiling the database last December, entering DNA information obtained from blood and other bodily substances recovered from crime scenes. However, the agency has not yet stored information on the DNA of suspects because it is considered private information.

Commissioner General Iwao Uruma said Wednesday that police currently conduct DNA tests on blood obtained from suspects only with permission from a court. Data on such tests are filed at police departments across the country.

"I don't think it will be necessary to make a new law if the database consists of samples already in our possession," he said.

But he said it would be necessary to make a new law if the police were to create a system of collecting DNA samples from all suspects and registering them in a database, as police in Europe and the United States do.