HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

97

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE FORMATION OF AN INTERIM COMMITTEE TO STUDY ISSUES OF EXPANDING THE STATE DNA DATABASE REGISTRY AND IMPROVING THE COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS OF DNA SAMPLES.

 

WHEREAS, the increased use of crime scene samples of deoxyribonucleic acid ("DNA") to identify perpetrators of criminal offenses helped law enforcement officials address issues of crime in several ways; and

WHEREAS, collection of DNA samples from crime scenes and inputting those samples in a database helps law enforcement officials to prevent crimes; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Justice estimates that the average rapist commits anywhere from 8 to 12 sexual assaults; and

WHEREAS, using DNA sampling to identify the rapist could prevent up to 11 sexual assaults per offender; and

WHEREAS, the use of DNA sampling has also helped to exonerate wrongfully convicted people, some who have been imprisoned for decades; and

WHEREAS, reducing the number of people wrongfully imprisoned would represent an improvement to the criminal justice system; and

WHEREAS, neighbor island police departments do not have crime labs that are equipped to analyze DNA and must send samples to the mainland for processing, which is an expensive endeavor; and

WHEREAS, the Honolulu Police Department does have a crime lab that is equipped to analyze DNA, but the lab lacks technicians and storage space for DNA samples; and

WHEREAS, increasing DNA processing and storage capacity at the Honolulu Police Department's crime lab and the use of memoranda of understanding will allow the Honolulu Police Department to assist neighbor island law enforcement; and

WHEREAS, an increased DNA processing and storage capacity would allow for the collection of DNA samples from all felons, and would increase the number of "cold hits", leading to the solving of previously stymied cases; and

WHEREAS, the increasing use of buccal swabs to collect DNA samples provides a less invasive, less expensive, and comparably accurate alternative to the collection of blood samples; and

WHEREAS, federal money is available to address the backlog of DNA processing and storage; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the Senate concurring, that the U.S. Attorney, the Attorney General, each county police department, and each county prosecutor is requested to appoint a representative to serve on an interim committee to study the issues regarding expansion of the State DNA database registry and improvement of DNA collection and analysis; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the interim committee is requested to submit its findings to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the opening of the 2005 Regular Session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the U.S. Attorney, the Attorney General, the Police Chief of each county, the Prosecuting Attorney for each county, and each member of the Congressional Delegation of the State of Hawaii.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Expansion of DNA registry; study