WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A 2006 U.S. law requiring all federal convicts to submit DNA samples has created an enormous backlog for the FBI laboratory, it was reported.
The FBI has yet to process DNA samples from nearly 200,000 convicted criminals, representing 85 percent of all the samples the FBI has collected since 2001, USA Today reported Tuesday.
The backlog grew by about 80,000 samples last year after the law changed and required all federal convicts, rather than just violent felons, to submit DNA. The backlog could swell further under another new law requiring DNA to be taken from about 500,000 federal arrestees and detainees, USA Today said.
The backlog means most of the DNA samples the FBI collects haven't been added to the national database for use in solving crimes, USA Today reported.
DNA from 34,000 convicts, added to the database since 2001, resulted in 600 matches to unsolved crimes. At the same rate, the untested samples could help solve an additional 3,200 crimes, USA Today said.
