[ as prepared ]
I am joined by Attorney General Gansler, the Superintendent of State Police Terry Sheridan, and leading authorities in forensic sciences, prosecution and law enforcement who all believe that an expansion of our State’s DNA Database will solve more violent crimes more quickly and put murderers and rapists behind bars before they murder or rape again.
Today we urge your support for legislation that is supported by virtually every police chief in every town and county in our State. It is supported by virtually every prosecutor, every State’s Attorney in Maryland.
When a state makes the decision to collect DNA fingerprints from individuals who have been arrested for crimes of violence, lives are saved. By adding one simple noninvasive step to the booking process of an individual arrested for rape, robbery, shooting, murder, we can save lives.
Many of you have seen a Chicago study that has documented 60 violent crimes including 53 murders and rapes that could have been prevented if the perpetrator had been required to submit a DNA sample for a prior qualifying arrest.
By improving the collection and sharing of information, our neighbors in Virginia have closed over 300 cold cases -- and Innocence Project has used DNA to exonerate 212 people. This is the natural evolution of forensic science.
Criminal history records reveal that repeat offenders typically have multiple violent felony arrests before a conviction is secured. Virginia has learned that approximately 40 percent of its violent crimes solved were perpetrated by those with previous property crime convictions.
Here in Maryland, the trends have been no different. Take for instance Leon Copeland, a career criminal, who has been arrested 16 times since 1976. Under the proposed legislation, DNA could have been collected at the time of 10 of these arrests. Arrests for alleged robberies and sex crimes – all in his past. Baltimore County charged him with a murder and a rape in 2000 and another rape in 2004 - all crimes dating from 1986. It seems that Mr. Copeland may have left his DNA at the scenes of these crimes allegedly committed 20 years ago.
Sadly, since those heinous crimes were committed:
Under the proposed legislation, law enforcement would have been able to obtain a match using DNA samples collected from Copeland during these missed opportunities. Had we been able to take a DNA fingerprint at the time of these 5 arrests, we would have been able to charge him with murder and rape years earlier -- and at least one of our neighbors would have never become a victim.
Law enforcement needs access to the best tools available to identify offenders – and our State is in a position to deliver this expanded technology as a 21st Century crime fighting tool to prevent needless attacks against our citizens.
We have the resources and we have shown that we have the capacity. Through the dedication of the hardworking staff of the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division, in one year together, we have eliminated our DNA backlog of 24,300 convicted offenders, increased our uploads to FBI's CODIS system by 88 percent and increased our positive DNA matches (or "hits") by 51 percent. And this year, we have allocated $1.3 million in the budget now before you to fund additional personnel and equipment for the Lab.
But there is more to do…
We have vowed to fight back against violent crime -- whenever and wherever it occurs in our State. This is not some pervasive enemy that cannot be defeated -- the common scourge of civil society. By bringing together our innovation and technology, we can better protect not only the rights of the accused, but the fabric of our community while we save more lives.
For all those who know the darkness of violence, for our neighbors who live under its fear, and for our kids who would otherwise know its burdens, together, let us make our State a safer and better place.
Thanks very much for your time.
February 13, 2008 |
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