Genetic Policing: The Use of DNA in Criminal Investigations. By Robin Williams and Paul Johnson (Willan Publishing, 2008)
Liz Heffernan · The British Journal of Criminology · 2008
The increasingly prominent role played by forensic science in the administration of criminal justice is due in no small measure to the meteoric rise of DNA profiling. The rapid transition of genetic technology from novel science to conventional investigative technique has been well documented but far less academic attention has been devoted to explaining why DNA has come to occupy such a pivotal place in criminal identification. This is just one of the intriguing questions addressed in this gem of a book which presents a socio-historical account of DNA profiling and an assessment of its implications for criminal justice and social order. The principal focus of the book is the National DNA Database of England and Wales (NDNAD)—the first of its kind and now the largest such database worldwide in terms of the number of profiles stored and the proportion of profiles per head of the population. Drawing on empirical research funded by the Wellcome Trust, the authors detail ‘the interwoven series of technical, legislative and organisational changes’, which have underpinned the complex and intricate history of DNA profiling and databasing. It would be a mistake, the authors conclude, for the legislative and policy history of the NDNAD to be viewed in simple linear form. They argue that the ‘[d]evelopment of the NDNAD has not proceeded from or moved towards any clearly defined or hegemonic aims. Rather, legislative changes have been born out of proactive and reactive responses to arising situations within the criminal justice system, scientific and technological innovation, and from policing demands and practices’.