Blog: A Crime Fighting Tool that Works

Statement

Over the past few years, DNA sampling has enabled us to take murderers, rapists and violent criminals off of our streets.

That's why we're very grateful and heartened by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts ruling to resume the use of DNA sampling as a tool for our law enforcement efforts.

In Maryland, we've driven down the numbers of homicides, cold cases and rape cases because of our use of DNA--a process that is no more invasive than fingerprinting.

In fact, since 2007, we've been able to drive down violent crime by nearly 25%. Working together with law enforcement, we've also driven down total crime and violent crime rates to the lowest rates on record.

Our DNA collection law has been a big part of that progress. It's enabled law enforcement to connect the dots between individuals convicted or arrested of serious crimes and earlier unsolved cases.

We recognize that this ruling is only temporary, but we are encouraged that the Supreme Court will be taking a close look at the Maryland Court of Appeals decision in this case.

There is no more important service that any of us do in Government than protecting our people. We need to use every available tool to fight crime--especially ones that are as effective as DNA sampling.

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