Now that we know DNA is what led investigators to their suspect in the Golden State Killer case, a lot of people are asking, why did it take so long?
DNA collection has changed over the years, and that has led to laws changing too.
"In 2004, once anybody got booked for a felony, we swabbed their cheek for DNA." Assemblymember Jim Cooper said. “That was then and this is now. And our current law on who can and cannot be required to give DNA samples, needs to change.”
In 2004, voters approved Prop 69 which said that DNA could be collected from anyone who was arrested on suspicion of a felony.
But when Prop 47 passed in 2014, several crimes that used to be felonies were downgraded to misdemeanors, which meant that we were collecting samples from fewer people. Some of those crimes include child sex trafficking, felony assault on a police officer and felony domestic violence.
Cooper says the DNA could be used to crack old cases. "
When you get a cold case DNA hit for a murder or sex crime, that DNA was collected as a result of a theft or drug crime,” Cooper said. “Our hits dropped dramatically. So, there are 450 rapes and murders we aren't solving right now because of that DNA collection."
Cooper is behind a bill to change Prop 47.
"When a person gets a misdemeanor conviction for one of just those seven crimes, then we get a DNA sample,” Cooper said. “So it's really stronger, it's more than just an arrest, it's a conviction."
Cooper has tried to get the bill thru the legislature twice, but it wasn't successful. He says he hopes the arrest of a suspect in the Golden State Killer case - which hinged on DNA - will renew efforts to have a closer look at the bill.
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