A new DNA database is in the pipeline for Bermuda with the Police hoping it will crack cold cases and boost detection rates in new crimes.

DNA profiling has been used in the past for serious crimes, such as murder cases. However, the Police were only given power last September, under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE), to take samples from every person arrested for a "recordable offence" one for which they could receive a jail sentence.

According to Superintendent Paul Wright, samples could start to be taken as a matter of course as soon as this summer, and officers are currently being trained.

Typically, a swab will be used to take DNA from the inside of suspects' cheeks. The samples will then be checked against a database of DNA evidence from the scenes of unsolved crimes, in the hope of finding a match.

"We've had really good results in terms of evidence in court for serious crimes, and this opens up the possibility of using DNA evidence in more general volume crime," explained Supt. Wright.

"In other jurisdictions the introduction of DNA evidence for the likes of burglaries and thefts increased their detection rates by almost four-fold, so we think there's a lot of potential there."

Last week, the Police signed a $987,000 three-year contract with Florida-based firm, Trinity DNA Solutions, to set up the project and do the profiling work.

Candy Zuleger, head of the company, told The Royal Gazette the money will be used to purchase the hardware and software needed to create the database, as well as compile statistics on Bermuda's general population to use for analysis, and cover the costs anticipated to be incurred for the first three years of profiling work.

"This is truly an exciting project," she remarked.

According to Supt. Wright, the $987,000 has come entirely from proceeds of crime cash confiscated during court proceedings and put into the Confiscated Assets Fund.

"The notion of new crime fighting tools, the cost of which is being underwritten by criminal proceeds, is an attractive one for most people," he noted.

The contract with Trinity promises that Bermuda Police will have a 30-day turnaround when it comes to getting lab results, in contrast to the lengthy wait investigators have faced in the past.

The lab will also create statistics for Bermuda based on an analysis of the general Island population. This will mean that local data will be available during court cases for the first time to explain to juries the likelihood of how many persons in a million or billion could possibly match the DNA profile in question.

At present, juries typically hear statistics based on the populations of Canada and the US. However, this type of evidence has been challenged by defence lawyers, who have said overseas statistics are irrelevant because closer family ties in Bermuda mean DNA could be more closely matched.

It's hoped that the local information will give juries increased confidence in the statistical information being cited.

"That's a massive step forward for Bermuda, and will ease things in the courts because it (statistical analysis) will be relative to the indigenous population of Bermuda," said Supt. Wright.

Representative samples will first have to be be gathered from hundreds of volunteers both black and white to build a picture of the local genome. Supt. White stressed that this data will be used anonymously, and will not be attributable to the volunteers or stored on any database. An appeal for assistance from the public will be issued in due course.

The use of DNA criminal databases in other countries has sparked privacy concerns from civil liberties campaigners. Last year, a European Court of Human Rights ruling sparked a UK Government review after the court criticised its database for storing the profiles of people who were never charged, or later found innocent.

Supt. Wright said of this: "The UK Police forces have not changed the way that they deal with DNA as a result of the court ruling. The Home Secretary is considering what impact the change in direction from the European Court of Human Rights is going to have. All I can say is we are waiting to see how the Home Office responds to it, and we've got an open mind."