Leon County Sheriff’s office has recently announced they are working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in implementing the nation’s first automated Rapid DNA process. This new collection process is being used in the Leon County Detention Facility and will allow for law enforcement to gain access quickly to DNA samples in the FBI’s database.
In under two hours law enforcement agencies can have results back from the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System to see if the arrestee in custody’s DNA matches to any unsolved crimes. Florida’s law requires all felony arrestees to give a DNA sample, the samples are then uploaded electronically to the FBI’s database.
Florida is one of five states selected nationwide and the only selected to use the fully automated Rapid DNA process. Other states using the rapid DNA collection process are California, Arizona, Louisiana, and Texas.
The data from these pilots will help the FBI to create national standards for the Rapid DNA program. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has worked for ten years to develop the Rapid DNA process and it was approved by the FBI this past month.
Florida’s Combined DNA Index System is located here in Tallahassee and is partially why the Florida Department of Law Enforcement began working with Leon County. The new Rapid DNA technology will ensure a quick turn around time on DNA results before the arrestee is released from jail. According to Sheriff Walt McNeil, this will “enable law enforcement to be more efficient” in identifying those who have committed prior crimes.
Good for LCSO and the rank-and-file, but the Sheriff's Office had info that the lady in jail may have had drugs in her stomach and let her die in her cell. She should have been brought to the hospital for evaluation.
Plus, Sheriff McNeil gave his campaign manager Sean Pittman an LCSO lobbying contract.
The sheriff set up a useless scheme spending a lot of money in order to funnel campaign funds to his friend and campaign manager. The sheriff should have expended the funds and time on implementing procedures to be followed in the jail so that inmates are kept safe.
the good news, Hope, is this was in the works before McNeil took office, so the 'hope' is he can't screw it up. Congrats to LE for new and productive tools.
Well, hell. Hope none of the usual suspects did 23andMe.