• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Subscribe to the Magazine
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Featured
    • K-9 lifesaver
      Cop Hobbies: Geocaching
      From cop to dad
      Getting some shut-eye
      Police technology: Why so far behind?
  • Topics
    • On the Job
      • The gatekeepers of school safety
        Reality bites
        Over two decades of catching online predators
        Party bus bust
        If you’re not telling your story on social media, who is?
    • Labor
      • NYPD disciplinary records made public
        Raising the bar
        Retirements up, recruiting down
        Maryland considers repealing officers’ bill of rights
        The fight for diversity
    • Tech
      • Data-driven investigations
        Police technology: Why so far behind?
        Charlotte-Mecklenburg police use key technology to battle crime wave
        Denver police gun detection technology pays off
        Reliable sources
    • Training
      • LPVO: The Goldilocks of AR optics
        Chicago PD introduces real-life situation training
        Reset in recoil: Working with your gun, not against it
        K-9 lifesaver
        South Carolina technical colleges looking to offer law enforcement...
    • Policy
      • Minneapolis decides to “refund” police following crime increase
        NYPD disciplinary records made public
        Pennsylvania top court decides on warrantless vehicle searches
        Capitol confusion
        Biden executive order bans police access to high-tech military...
    • Health/Wellness
      • Capitol riot suicides shine light on police mental health struggles
        So much for those New Year’s resolutions, eh?
        Save jobs and lives
        Everyday work trauma and your brain
        Getting some shut-eye
    • Community
      • Life-changing gifts
        Honoring Nashville’s heroes
        From cop to dad
        South Carolina technical colleges looking to offer law enforcement...
        Record carjackings across the country
    • Humor
      • The force is strong with this one
        Dude, where’s my car?
        Dressed to impress
        How to retire angry
        Ousted police chief makes his departure brief — literally
    • We Remember
      • Slain Capitol Police officer honored
        A thread of courage and love
        COVID-19 “very likely” to kill more cops than 9/11
        Always honored, never forgotten
        More space needed at National Memorial
  • On the Job
    • The gatekeepers of school safety
      Reality bites
      Over two decades of catching online predators
      Party bus bust
      If you’re not telling your story on social media, who is?
  • Labor
    • NYPD disciplinary records made public
      Raising the bar
      Retirements up, recruiting down
      Maryland considers repealing officers’ bill of rights
      The fight for diversity
  • Tech
    • Data-driven investigations
      Police technology: Why so far behind?
      Charlotte-Mecklenburg police use key technology to battle crime wave
      Denver police gun detection technology pays off
      Reliable sources
  • Training
    • LPVO: The Goldilocks of AR optics
      Chicago PD introduces real-life situation training
      Reset in recoil: Working with your gun, not against it
      K-9 lifesaver
      South Carolina technical colleges looking to offer law enforcement...
  • Policy
    • Minneapolis decides to “refund” police following crime increase
      NYPD disciplinary records made public
      Pennsylvania top court decides on warrantless vehicle searches
      Capitol confusion
      Biden executive order bans police access to high-tech military...
  • Health/Wellness
    • Capitol riot suicides shine light on police mental health struggles
      So much for those New Year’s resolutions, eh?
      Save jobs and lives
      Everyday work trauma and your brain
      Getting some shut-eye
  • Community
    • Life-changing gifts
      Honoring Nashville’s heroes
      From cop to dad
      South Carolina technical colleges looking to offer law enforcement...
      Record carjackings across the country
  • Humor
    • The force is strong with this one
      Dude, where’s my car?
      Dressed to impress
      How to retire angry
      Ousted police chief makes his departure brief — literally
  • We Remember
    • Slain Capitol Police officer honored
      A thread of courage and love
      COVID-19 “very likely” to kill more cops than 9/11
      Always honored, never forgotten
      More space needed at National Memorial
  • Jobs and Careers
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Search

Tech

The fight over DNA

Privacy worries grow as police utilize genetic genealogy to crack cold cases

Published August 28, 2019 @ 9:00 am PDT

iStock.com/undefined

Last year, California law enforcement proudly announced an arrest in the Golden State Killer cold case. Joseph DeAngelo, a former police officer, has been charged in the deaths of 13 people and has been linked to dozens of rapes throughout the state. Whenever a serial offender is taken into custody it becomes big news, but what really made headlines this time is how DeAngelo was identified. Investigators tapped the growing industry of private DNA testing.

Over the past several years, millions of people have submitted their DNA to companies such as Ancestry and MyHeritage to trace their genetic background and fill in family trees. Many of these businesses send the biological samples to GEDmatch, a nonprofit website that holds the information in a database. California detectives tapped into that database with hopes to find a DNA match with evidence samples collected in the Golden State Killer case.

While the search didn’t dig up a direct and conclusive match, it did reveal a distant relative. That led investigators to study this individual’s family tree from which they were able to suspect DeAngelo as the killer based on his employment history and residences at the time of each crime. Then, officials surveilled DeAngelo, collected his trash for DNA testing, which was much more conclusive, and the results convinced prosecutors to file charges.

Since then, law enforcement agencies across the country have engaged GEDmatch as a critical source for cold cases. In fact, weeks after DeAngelo was taken into custody, police in Tacoma, Washington, arrested Gary C. Hartman in the 1986 death of Michella Welch. According to PBS’s News Hour, at least 50 killings and rapes nationwide have been closed based on partial DNA matches to suspects’ relatives and familial research, also known as genetic genealogy.

In many instances, suspects identified by genetic genealogy have entered guilty pleas, but CNN reports William Earl Talbott II was the first defendant to proceed to trial after being arrested based on genetic genealogy. In July, a jury found him guilty of murdering Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg in Snohomish County, Washington, in 1987. Interestingly, the science ended up being just one piece of evidence presented by prosecutors.

“It wasn’t a point of conversation during the trial, it wasn’t contended, it wasn’t debated. We knew it was a unique way to find somebody, but we weren’t presented with anybody we needed to find credible or not,” one juror told The Daily Herald. “ … All that matters is that they found him, and he was on trial, and that’s all we had to consider.”

 

Breaking new ground

The use of genetic genealogy as an investigative tool is still very new, but law enforcement holds high hopes for its potential to crack open new leads on old cold cases. According to data compiled by the Murder Accountability Project, there are more than 300,000 unsolved murders in the United States since 1965, and the number of unsolved rape cases probably ticks even higher.

“I have very high hopes for [genetic genealogy] to make society safer. Maybe it will work as a deterrent once people realize a lot of cold cases are being resolved,” CeCe Moore, a genealogist, told reporters with CNET.

One of the reasons police agencies have embraced the technique is because GEDmatch offers a different genetic reach than law enforcement databases. The website says it has received genetic kits from approximately 1.2 million individuals. Although that’s substantially smaller than the 13 million-plus offender profiles logged by the National DNA Index, but more than the 944,750 forensic profiles entered, samples come from citizens who previously haven’t come in contact with law enforcement. Therefore, they haven’t been uploaded to CODIS, for example. What’s more, analysts say there’s a greater representation of white males in the GEDmatch database than in CODIS or the National DNA Index.

Initially, GEDmatch automatically opted every kit into its agreement of granting police departments access to its DNA database. Officially, the organization said it would only approve access for homicides and sexual assault investigations. However, when it became public knowledge that permission was granted to police in Utah for a general assault case, ethicists and civil rights advocates began voicing concern regarding potential abuse, such as the technique being applied to less serious cases. Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) express worries that access will continue to be expanded to lesser crimes. Also there’s trepidation regarding individuals’ privacy protections and just who is reviewing their DNA profiles and how that sensitive information will be used.

In response, GEDmatch recently revised its policy. Instead of automatically being opted in, it prohibits use of DNA samples for testing by law enforcement unless the person specifically grants police access. That applies to all existing and new kits. An email was sent to previous submission holders explaining the change and asking if they would like to affirm permission. As of late spring, the company reports more than 50,000 participants have agreed, and executives believe the number will grow as citizens recognize the critical role they can play.

“We strongly support law enforcement. The use of genetic genealogy for providing leads in violent crimes has been called the biggest crimefighting breakthrough in decades,” Curtis Rogers, a co-founder of GEDmatch, said in a statement. “Its incredible success to date has been due almost entirely to the GEDmatch database.”

However, law enforcement worries the new policy restricts the potential lead pool too much. Analysts believe it’s been reduced by as much as 95 percent.

As with any new investigative tool, cases will test and define the legal parameters of when and how genetic genealogy can be applied. But law enforcement and victims’ families remain hopeful about the renewed life this development offers cold cases.

As seen in the August 2019 issue of American Police Beat magazine.
Don’t miss out on another issue today! Click below:

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Categories: Tech

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • The gatekeepers of school safety
  • Capitol riot suicides shine light on police mental health struggles
  • Minneapolis decides to “refund” police following crime increase
  • Reality bites
  • Over two decades of catching online predators
  • Party bus bust
  • If you’re not telling your story on social media, who is?
  • Virtual currency investigations
  • So much for those New Year’s resolutions, eh?
  • Save jobs and lives
Advertise with APB

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Categories

  • Featured
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Humor
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers

Editor’s Picks

Ass-kissing, favoritism, oh my!

Ass-kissing, favoritism, oh my!

January 28, 2021

This K-9 is a gym rat at heart!

This K-9 is a gym rat at heart!

January 25, 2021

A thread of courage and love

A thread of courage and love

January 20, 2021

The job doesn’t love you back

The job doesn’t love you back

December 28, 2020

Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2021 American Police Beat, Inc. | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close
Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.