Stephen House, the chief constable of Strathclyde has asked for the DNA of innocent people to be put on the Scottish DNA database. While this may sound like a ‘crazy Orwellian’ plan, the same system has been running in England for the past 9 years. Currently in the England the police can take DNA, after arrest and retain it, even if the individual has been found innocent, or never charged. However, Stratchclye police have since stated this was a misquote.
But its not the only time Scottish police have been called for extended powers: In 2005 the the deputy chief constable of Tayside police, Ian Gordon, last called for new Scottish powers to allow an individual’s DNA sample to be retained on a national database, regardless of even if they have been convicted. Full Article
As the Scottish Government is currently discussing retaining DNA of children it seems likely that Stephen House was not entirely misquoted.