DNA, future of criminal justice addressed

Sarah Hart, director of the National Institute of Justice

3:18 p.m., Nov. 8, 2004--Sarah V. Hart, director of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in Washington, D.C., made a strong case for expanding the use of DNA in criminal investigations in a lecture she gave Friday afternoon, Nov.5, at the Willard Hall Education Building.

Speaking to an audience of approximately 70 UD students and faculty, Hart, who graduated from the University in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, outlined the benefits of using DNA in criminal investigations and presented several examples of cases in which DNA use has indisputably matched perpetrators with homicides, rapes, burglaries and drug felonies.

“Using DNA technology is expensive, but it can be incredibly cost-effective as well,” Hart said. She has played a major role in developing the DNA Initiative, a five-year, $1-billion-plus effort to build the nation’s capacity to use DNA technology to solve crimes and protect the innocent.

“An example of just how cost-effective [DNA use] can be can be illustrated with a recent NIJ grant of $111,000 for investigator and forensic analyst overtime. This funding led directly to solving nine rapes and 22 homicides in Kansas City,” Hart said.

Hart, who worked on the frontlines of criminal investigations in Philadelphia for more than a decade before joining the NIJ in 2001, explained how DNA use is particularly valuable in matching perpetrators whose crimes follow patterns but whose locales shift.

“Because criminals often tend to move around, DNA helps target career criminals,” she said. Using the example of the “Center City Rapist,” a man who preyed on young single women in Philadelphia in the early ’90s before repeating his pattern a few years later in Boulder, Colo., Hart said that DNA colllected from both locations provided the only key in cracking the case, while simultaneously sparing scores of victims from the pain of testifying.

Moving from the penal uses of DNA, Hart said that DNA also can be valuable in proving a suspect’s innocence, in identifying missing persons and in slowing drug trafficking.

“DNA can also be used to exonerate convicted criminals, so its use has benefits on both sides,” Hart said. “And, what we found after the World Trade Center attacks is that it can also be an extremely valuable resource in identifying missing persons—which are unfortunately the cases given the lowest priority in crime-solving investigations.”

Besides focusing on the benefits of DNA use, Hart also touched on the ways DNA might be misused—particularly as technology advances by leaps and bounds.

“Our vision is to use DNA as a routine law enforcement tool—not after the fact or late in an investigation, but up front and early on,” she said. “In order to use DNA to the best extent, it needs to be collected on all [new] felons and on offenders already in custody.

“I’ve heard people say, ‘I think DNA ought to be collected on everyone at birth,’ but every time I hear that I always think: I hope not!” Hart said.

“Even something as public as your name can give away a lot of information about you—your ethnic background, perhaps your religious affiliation—and DNA is extremely personal because it’s unique only to you. A lot of information can be extracted. That’s why so many people are concerned about how it affects privacy. There are still a lot of questions about how DNA can be collected, traced and used.”

Hart concluded her lecture by answering questions and speaking informally with audience members.

The talk, which was the first in the 2004-05 Distinguished Alumni Lecture series, was sponsored by UD’s Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice.

Article by Becca Hutchinson
Photograph by Kathy Atkinson

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