WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- The FBI laboratory has reached a major milestone in sharing information among law enforcement agencies, the bureau announced Friday.
Wednesday, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement contributed the 1 millionth DNA profile to the National DNA Index System, known as NDIS.
Authorized by the DNA Identification Act of 1994, the national index is administered by the FBI.
The National DNA Index System compares DNA profiles associated with a crime scene to DNA profiles collected from known convicted offenders as well as to other crime scene profiles.
When the DNA profiles are uploaded to the central lab, they are searched against other DNA profiles submitted by other participating states, the FBI said.
Since its inception in October 1998, the NDIS network has grown from a handful of participating state and local forensic laboratories to include more than 130 federal, state and local laboratories representing 42 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Forensic laboratories participating at the federal, state and local levels have thus far aided in more than 4,200 investigations, according to the FBI.
Additional information on the program can be obtained on the CODIS section of the FBI's Web site at fbi.gov/hq/lab/codis/index1.htm.
