Racist Omaha Police say DNA Sweeps save time
People asked for their DNA have little choice: Either submit to the test or move up the suspect list. And, they say, sweeps - in which police collect DNA from dozens of people based upon a broad description - violate people's constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure. "These sweeps - whether they're roadblocks or these massive DNA collections - are not only intrusive but they're ineffective," said Sam Walker, a longtime criminal justice professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. "Research has shown that time and time again, crimes are solved by some specific identifying information from people. The victim. A witness. A friend. "A lot of these sweeps are just done as theater. It's police playing to an audience, trying to show that they're doing something."
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