I hadn't finished and hit the publish button by mistake - and I hadn't been drinking! Anyway, apologies to anyone getting these the wrong way round.
So, rather than worrying about creating an unworkable and hideously expensive database to solve crime, how about this novel thought - lets spend the money on prevention instead.
Prostitutes are a prime target for psychopaths because they tend to operate outside the law and norms of society. Wouldn't it be better to legalise the trade and put them in a controlled, safe, environment? It would also help to control STD's.
As a large number of prostitutes appear to be using prostitution to feed their drug habits there is a good chance they could be looked after better as well. Better still, lets legalise drugs, that should also prevent a number of crimes as well, and have the double whammy of saving money on jails, which could then be used for real criminals.
All this and I haven't even considered the libertarian aspects of the database. I'll leave that for those who are more eloquent than I.
Friday, February 22, 2008
That DNA database, again (2)
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3 comments:
There's another problem with using a DNA database which no one seems to think about very often, and it follows on from the "one in a million or better"matching claimed for the system.
In the event of a wrongful arrest because of poor testing, accidental positive or whatever, as with all systems, the system owners will tend to believe in its infallibility. So the business of proving one's innocence becomes much, much harder - the hurdle height is raised substantially.
Someone remindme about that stuff..... what was it now.... ummm...... oh yes! Better that a thousand guilty men be freed than one innocent man imprisoned..... something like that, anyway.
Same infallibility issues with ID cards; the thinking is taken out of the process. It's no longer, "are you who you say you are?" - it becomes "have you got your ID card? Yes? Oh that's alright then".
Dumb, dumb, dumb....... senior Police officers should be fitted with a nice big gag to go with the scrambled egg on the cap and collars.
Ha! My post for today was based on an article on the BBC and I came to much the same conclusion. But you seem to have beaten me to it.
MarkC,
the, the constant challenging of the presumtion of innocence is very worrying.
The acceptance of "better 10 guilty men go free..." was what my father eckoned defined britishness.
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