Widespread DNA testing planned for shoplifters
by MATTHEW HICKLEY
Shoplifters, people whose dogs foul the pavement, litter droppers, speeding drivers and those caught not wearing a seat belt could be fingerprinted or forced to give DNA under new Home Office proposals.
Further suggestions, aimed at easing the burden on police, include locking up drunks and vandals in short-term cell blocks in shopping centres and high streets.
The Home Office hopes a network of hundreds of new mini detention facilities could save frontline officers hours they currently spend escorting ‘minor’ offenders to police station custody suites and checking their identities, only to let them go with a fine or a caution.
Instead those arrested for straightforward and less serious offences could be held for up to four hours in a high street cell block until their identity is confirmed, freeing up officers to go back out on patrol.But concerns were raised last night as hundreds of real police stations have closed in recent years and officers are under growing pressure to dispense instant justice instead of putting criminals before the courts.
Critics warned that temporary cell-blocks and fines could increasingly become a cheap substitute for charging and prosecuting serious offenders.
The proposals were published as part of Home Office plans for a major shake up of police powers, reforming the 20-year-old Police and Criminal Evidence Act which governs the way officers fight crime.
The paper claims most arrested suspects spend less than four hours in custody, often because officers suspect they are lying about their name and address.
Officers can then spend much of their shift filling in forms in a custody suite and checking an offender’s identity – simply to be able to issue them with a caution or fine.