What happens next?
Replies from the police
Currently, the Government has told the police not to change their policy until it has changed the law in response to the European Court of Human Rights’ decision. This means your first letter is unlikely to be successful.
However, the police are still legally responsible for the DNA and other information they took from you on your arrest.
The Chief Constable also has the discretion to remove you as an ‘exceptional case’. Some people — for example, the comedian Mark Thomas and the Conservative politician Damian Green — have already been successful in getting their DNA destroyed and their records removed. However, Damian Green MP has also exposed how your chances of success depend on which police force originally arrested you.
Being persistent
Even if your letter is unsuccessful, it will still have helped remind the Government that it should respect your rights. The more letters the police get the more likely it is that the law will change.
If you are persistent and write again to explain why your records should be removed you are more likely to succeed.
Is your case ‘exceptional’?
This webpage by an individual who succeeded in getting his record deleted shows how the police make decisions on exceptional cases. The Met has published its procedure for deciding exceptional cases, but it says these will be rare and are only likely to include cases where:
- the original arrest was found to be unlawful, or
- it was shown beyond reasonable doubt that no offence existed (for example, a murder inquiry was stopped because it turned out that someone died of natural causes)
You should let the Chief Constable know if you think either of these situations applies to you.
Other points to make in a second letter
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has obtained a legal opinion which says that the Government’s new plans to keep DNA records from innocent people for six to twelve years after their arrest are unlawful. You might want to refer to this in your next letter.
Other useful points you might want to make when you reply to a letter from the police are:
- The Chief Constable — not the Government — is legally responsible for what happens to your DNA and personal information.
- There is no law that forces the police to keep your record on the National DNA Database, and the European Court was clear that this is a violation of your rights.
- It is not fair to treat some un-convicted people as more innocent than others. If Mark Thomas and Damian Green can have their computer records deleted and their DNA destroyed, why can’t you?
- The police have no evidence that keeping your DNA is likely to help solve a future crime, so why are they treating you differently from people who have not been arrested?
If you are writing to Greater Manchester Police, you may want to point out that the Chief Constable has signed a pledge promising to “Keep personal information to the minimum necessary and delete it when we no longer need it”.
Legal advice
This website cannot provide you with legal advice. If you want to make a legal challenge to the retention of your DNA you should contact a lawyer as soon as possible after your arrest.
Contact us
If you want to help us keep this website up-to-date, please send a copy of any replies you receive from the police to: GeneWatch UK. We will use these replies only to help us keep this website up-to-date and advise people what to do next. We will not pass your name or address on to anyone. The About us page tells you more about who is supporting this website.
What else can I do?
This website will be kept updated with further action you can take as more information becomes available about what the Government plans to do. Don’t forget that it will also make a difference if you contact your MP