Oman is planning to create a DNA database of those arrested for offences that are officially recorded and lead to imprisonment but not conviction such as traffic violations, causing public nuisance, hooliganism and begging.
The ROP is already creating a DNA database for convicts lodged in prisons, a senior official said, and the latest move is expected to help criminal investigations and lead to better policing in the sultanate.
Speaking to Muscat Daily, Dr Wafaa Salim al Harrasy, director of forensic laboratory, Directorate General of Criminal Inquiries and Investigation, ROP, said, “We are planning to obtain a DNA profile from whoever commits any recordable offence not necessarily leading him/her to be convicted. ROP will have the right to take their buccal swabs (see box) for profiling their DNA and use it to crack unsolved crimes in the database.”
She added, “We have already started creating DNA profile of all the convicts lodged in our prisons. If the person commits a crime again after the completion of his prison term, it will be easier for us to nab him. The person’s DNA profile will help us to solve the crime faster.”
Dr Wafaa said that police forces all over the world have benefited immensely from DNA databases and their potential in aiding criminal investigation and fighting crimes.
In fact, many countries now include in their national DNA database profiles of a wider range of suspects in addition to convicts lodged in prisons, she added.
“Statistics reveal that a percentage of people who have committed minor offences have also committed more serious crimes.”
Dr Wafaa said that the technique used earlier for collecting DNA was from blood samples, but now buccal swabs are preferred.
“The DNA profiles are then entered and stored in the database and are used not only for matching to solve current criminal cases, but also unsolved cases from the past,” she said.
Elaborating on the advantages of having a DNA database, Dr Wafaa said, “It will save time and money. A criminal always leaves some ‘evidence’ in the form of DNA while committing a crime. Our experts collect this evidence in order to associate the criminal to the crime. Many countries have started maintaining DNA databases of convicts in prisons and suspects to solve crimes. We are moving ahead in the same direction.”
Muscat Daily