DNA

Critics say New York City isn’t moving quickly enough to shrink a contested, largely secretive database of DNA samples collected by police from potential “persons of interest,” including more than 1,600 minors and 8,000 people who have not been convicted of a crime. 

In New York City, a middle-schooler pulled over by police could end up in a largely secretive DNA database simply for sipping a soda during questioning, whether or not they are ever implicated in a crime — a practice some lawmakers and justice advocates want to eradicate statewide.