The Gun on the Mantelpiece

A couple of stories coming out of the UK in the last few days make one thing very clear: when we give authorities the technical capacity to violate rights, rights will be violated despite the solemn promises of politicians to the contrary.

First, it seems that British police might be misusing the National DNA Database, which was set up in 1995 to “quickly identify offenders, make earlier arrests, secure more convictions, and provide critical investigative leads for police investigations.” The police are allowed to take DNA from those taken into custody, regardless of whether they are convicted of a crime.

A report from the Human Genetics Commission, a government advisory board, estimates that over 8 percent of Brits, and a staggering 75 percent of young black men, now have their DNA on record. That’s pretty disgusting in its own right (though not disgusting enough for some), but things might be much worse than that. The report alleges police are arresting people simply to get their DNA on record. The report quotes a retired police officer as saying:

It is now the norm to arrest offenders for everything if there is a power to do so … It is apparently understood by serving police officers that one of the reasons, if not the reason, for the change in practice is so that the DNA of the offender can be obtained: samples can be obtained after arrest but not if there is a report for summons. It matters not, of course, whether the arrest leads to no action, a caution or a charge, because the DNA is kept on the database anyway.

The accusation is now being investigated by a government committee. History tells us, though, that cops are seldom found at fault for their misdeeds. UK cops are misusing their capacity to gather personal genetic information. Now that they have that information, do we trust them to use that responsibly?

Second, Cory Doctorow reports on traffic cameras – used to ticket and toll people for driving in London – being used for surveillance with the sanction of counterterrorism laws. Act suspiciously and your vehicle can be added to the “persons of interest” database; your number plate will be snapped and recognized by a traffic camera; and you’ll be pulled over by cops who’ve received an alert as to your whereabouts. And remember: you’re being pulled over as a terrorism suspect.

Among these dangerous terrorists are 50-year-old Linda Catt and her 84-year-old father, John. The heinous crime which led to their branding as terrorists? Attending three anti-war protests. Another protestor says he’s been stopped by police 25 times in two and half years. His SUV was flagged as “requiring stop checks” after he attended a peaceful protest against a duck and pheasant shoot.

Doctorow points to Chekhov’s first law of narrative: “A gun on the mantelpiece in act one will go off by act three.” Laws supposedly aimed at protecting people from terrorists or criminals are now being used to track and harass peaceful protestors and create a DNA database of undesirable sorts. With government, there’s always a gun on the mantelpiece. Nobody should be surprised when it goes off.