A team of Orange County prosecutors that has been on the cutting edge of DNA profiling is taking a lead role to help police and investigators throughout the state deal with the thousands of samples they'll soon be required to collect from convicted and accused criminals.
The district attorney's TRACKRS unit, which helped craft the just-passed Proposition 69, will meet Tuesday with representatives from the Orange County courts and Sheriff's Department and the state Justice Department's crime lab to share and solicit ideas for a statewide model.
The DNA database developed in Orange County is widely credited as being the most advanced in the state and has helped crack cold cases and catch serial criminals.
"Whatever we put together will be comprehensive and complete, and we'll make it available to anyone who's interested," said TRACKRS commander John Santy. TRACKRS stands for Task Force Review Aimed at Catching Killers, Rapists and Sex Offenders.
With this month's statewide passage of Proposition 69, a DNA sample must be taken from every adult and juvenile convicted of a felony in California and from every adult arrested on suspicion of murder or certain sex crimes.
In 2009, the law will expand to include those held on suspicion of any felony or certain misdemeanors. Retroactive provisions require that samples also be obtained from some California prison inmates and parolees not covered under previous law, which applies only to those convicted of serious felonies.
The new law is expected to add tens of thousands of new DNA fingerprints to a statewide database.
Santy and fellow TRACKRS member Camille Hill, a deputy district attorney who helped write the proposition, say the new caseload can be handled relatively smoothly with a system not all that different from the one used in Orange County. And other prosecutors in the state agree.
"They will have a very tight model for collection, when all is said and done, and they will get it done rapidly, which will be very useful for all jurisdictions in California, especially some of the smaller ones," said Lisa Kahn, a Los Angeles deputy district attorney who serves as a forensic advisor and helped Hill write the proposition.
Kahn and other officials said Los Angeles County is moving just as quickly with its own model. Kahn, who will be attending this week's meeting in Orange County, said Los Angeles County, by virtue of its size, has many unique issues that would not apply elsewhere.
