This is a model procedure for local law enforcement agencies to ensure that DNA and fingerprint database hits—especially those generated by the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS)—are used to their full potential to solve crimes and identify wrongful convictions. These forensic database hits can often arise years after the original crime occurred. Without comprehensive procedures, this delay makes these hits vulnerable to being overlooked or missed. The investigating officer may have left the agency, retired, or moved into a new role, leaving the hit essentially “orphaned” with no one thinking it is their responsibility to review it. Even when an investigating officer is still assigned, the age of the case may cause the hit to get de-prioritized. Given that forensic database hits disproportionately occur in violent criminal cases, and can be extremely powerful for identifying the true perpetrator or exposing serial offenders, this oversight needs to be addressed.

The problem is even greater in wrongful conviction cases. Forensic hits that emerge years after the original conviction was secured can reveal the innocence of the convicted person and help identify the true offender. Yet these cases will, by their nature, be marked as closed by conviction, increasing the risk yet further that hits to these cases will be ignored or overlooked. This can have the tragic effect of leaving an innocent person in prison, unaware of the evidence that could free them, while the true perpetrator remains free.

This comprehensive model procedure ensures these failures do not occur by ensuring that every incoming forensic hit has a clear chain of ownership, laying out the specific investigative steps to be taken for each hit, and providing for appropriate follow-up mechanisms from senior leadership as a failsafe. Adoption of this protocol will improve public safety while providing justice to victims—and the wrongfully convicted—alike.

This model procedure is targeted towards agencies of between 20–200 officers. We also have sample procedures available upon request for larger and smaller agencies, and would also be delighted to work with you to create a custom procedure tailored to your agency’s existing workflows and needs. Please contact Hayden Davis.