NCJRS - National Criminal Justice Reference Service

"CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) generates investigative leads in crimes where biological evidence is recovered from the crime scene using two indexes: the forensic and offender indexes. . . . The Forensic Index contains DNA profiles from crime scene evidence; the Offender Index contains DNA profiles of individuals convicted of sex offenses (and other violent crimes) with many states now expanding legislation to include other felonies. . . . As of June 2005, the profile composition of the National DNA Indexing Systems includes 2,541,933 completed profiles; 111,926 completed Forensic profiles; and 2,430,007 completed Convicted Offender Profiles" (CODIS Combined DNA Index System, Federal Bureau of Investigation).
"DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the building block for the human body; virtually every cell contains DNA" (Understanding DNA Evidence: A Guide for Victim Service Providers, Office for Victims of Crime, 2001).
"The DNA in a person's blood cells is the same as the DNA in their saliva, skin tissue, hair, and bone. Importantly, DNA does not change throughout a person's life" ( Understanding DNA Evidence: A Guide for Victim Service Providers, Office for Victims of Crime, 2001).
"The FBI has an identification unit known as the Disaster Squad, which renders assistance in identifying victims at disaster scenes. Since 1940, the Disaster Squad has responded to over 200 disasters worldwide and has identified over half of the victims by fingerprints or footprints" ( Handbook of Forensic Services, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1999).
"DNA is contained in blood, semen, skin cells, tissue, organs, muscle, brain cells, bone, teeth, hair, saliva, mucus, perspiration, fingernails, urine, feces, etc." ( What Every Law Enforcement Officer Should Know About DNA Evidence, National Institute of Justice, 1999).
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) 2001 National Study of DNA Laboratories, the second national survey of publicly operated forensic crime laboratories that perform DNA testing, obtained data from 110 of the approximately 120 known public forensic DNA laboratories via mail and online surveys. The study found that "eighty-one percent of DNA laboratories reported having a backlog of known or unknown subject cases, or a backlog of convicted offender samples, as of January 1, 2001” ( Survey of DNA Crime Laboratories, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001).
"CODIS (COmbined DNA Index System), an electronic database of DNA profiles that can identify suspects, is similar to the AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) database. Every State in the Nation is in the process of implementing a DNA index of individuals convicted of certain crimes, such as rape, murder, and child abuse" ( What Every Law Enforcement Officer Should Know About DNA Evidence, National Institute of Justice, 1999).
"All 50 states now have laws requiring DNA typing of convicted offenders" ( Improved Analysis of DNA Short Tandem Repeats with Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry, National Institute of Justice, 2001).
"Y-specific probes are sequences of DNA found only on the Y (or male) chromosome. Because Y chromosomes are inherited through the male lineage, Y-specific probe results may be used to link a crime scene sample to a particular family" ( Postconviction DNA Testing: Recommendations for Handling Requests, National Institute of Justice, 1999).
"The momentum is growing, spurred in part by the public's education from the Simpson trial, for DNA testing in criminal cases. Juries may begin to question cases where the prosecutor does not offer 'conclusive' DNA test results if the evidence is available for testing" ( Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science: Case Studies in the Use of DNA Evidence to Establish Innocence After Trial, National Institute of Justice, 1996).
"NIJ is supporting a 5-year effort to fund all areas of research and technology development to enhance the use of DNA in the criminal justice system" ( A Resource Guide to Law Enforcement, Corrections, and Forensic Technologies, National Institute of Justice, 2001).
"Ninydrin was first introduced in 1910 by the English chemist, Siegfried Ruhemann, but became more well-known in 1954 when it was discovered that it could be used as a fingerprint developing reagent." ( New Reagents for Development of Latent Fingerprints, National Institute of Justice, 1995).

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