NATIONAL
DNA INDEX SYSTEM REACHES 1,000,000 PROFILES
The
FBI Laboratory today announced a major milestone
in its mission to facilitate the investigation of
violent crimes by the sharing of information between
law enforcement agencies. On June 12, 2002, the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement contributed
the one millionth DNA profile to the National DNA
Index System, known as NDIS.
Authorized
by the DNA Identification Act of 1994, the FBI administers
this national index. NDIS 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 NDIS, they are searched against the
other DNA profiles submitted by other participating
states.
Since
its inception in October 1998, NDIS 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.
(Additional information on this program can be obtained
on the CODIS section of the FBI’s website at
www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/codis/index1.htm.)
The
FBI acknowledges the excellent cooperation of the
criminal justice community, especially the participating
laboratories and their staff who are responsible
for the success of this program, which has been
instrumental in solving some of the most heinous
serial violent crimes.
