Tom Whitehead reports: Officers will arrest individuals for “everything” because they then have to power to take DNA samples, even if they wouldn’t have been detained under other circumstances. The Human Genetics Commission (HGC) warned the alarming practice, which was revealed by a retired senior police officer, was creating a “spiral of suspicion” over the…
Category: Surveillance
UK group: 3/4 of young black men on DNA database
Gregory Katz reports: As many as three quarters of all black men in Britain aged 18-35 have had their genetic information placed on the country’s massive DNA database, a group charged with reviewing officials’ use of genetic technology said Tuesday. The Human Genetics Commission – an independent government advisory board made up of scientists, lawyers…
N.H. psychiatrist criticizes VA medical center office search
Mark Davis reports: Government investigators, acting without a warrant, had no right to search the office of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center psychiatrist who now faces criminal and civil charges, the psychiatrist’s lawyers argue in a recent court filing. Lawyers for William Weeks of Lyme, N.H., charged with mismanaging contracts between the VA and Dartmouth…
UK: NUJ condemns PCC phone-hacking investigation
Oliver Luft reports: The National Union of Journalists has become the latest organisation to criticise the Press Complaints Commission’s inquiry into alleged phone hacking by the News of the World. Delegates attending the union’s annual policy-making conference this weekend passed a motion condemning the PCC for its “failure to mount a proper investigation into the…