The San Francisco Police Department is being sued by a woman after police used a DNA sample she provided in 2016 for a sexual assault investigation to arrest her.
The woman, identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, had given her DNA sample to SFPD and was led by officers to believe that her sample would not be used for any purpose beyond her investigation, according to the lawsuit. In keeping her sample for at least six years, Doe was “re-victimized” by the police for storing her sample without her permission, the lawsuit stated.
“Her DNA was likely tested in thousands of criminal investigations, though the police had absolutely no reason to believe that she was involved in any of the incidents,” the lawsuit reads. “Defendant Mark Powell, director of the San Francisco Police Department Crime Laboratory, characterized this shocking use of crime victims’ DNA as standard procedure.”
SUSPECT ARRESTED IN SHOOTING DEATH OF COLORADO POLICE OFFICER
In December 2021, SFPD City and County of San Francisco had allegedly taken a DNA sample from a burglary scene and found that it matched Doe’s sample that was given in 2016, the lawsuit stated. Doe was then arrested and charged with several burglary-related offenses, according to the lawsuit.
While the charges against Doe were later dropped, the lawsuit states several damages and expenses she experienced as a result of her arrest, including medical expenses, pain and suffering, and violation of Constitutional rights.
The lawsuit also states there are “reportedly thousands of people who are being subjected to this arbitrary, unlawful unconstitutional invasion of privacy.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
On Feb. 16, SFPD Chief Bill Scott said the department’s existing DNA collection policies “have been legally vetted” and conformed with state and national forensic standards but also stated that SFPD would immediately begin reviewing its collection practices and policies. A few days later, the department ended its policy of sharing rape kit DNA outside the crime lab, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
