Chiefs of Police argue for DNA collection in non-violent convictions

Bill S-231 An Act To Amend The Criminal Code, sponsored by Quebec Conservative Senator Claude Carignan, would mandate DNA collection from those anyone convicted of crimes punishable by five years or more, including impaired driving, drug trafficking, or theft over $5,000. 

Police chiefs lobby for #S231 to expand DNA sampling to crimes like drunk driving, predict it could solve cold cases.  https://t.co/OmBNH0brPb #cdnpoli  @SenatCarignan @CACP_ACCP @SenateCA pic.twitter.com/E381f4GFp4

— Blacklock's Reporter (@mindingottawa) February 23, 2023

In submissions provided by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) argued in favour of expanding the DNA evidence collection for non-violent offences, citing the solved murder of Christine Jessop as proof of a less restrictive DNA collection system would result in more murderers behind bars. 

"The National DNA Databank is under-utilized, and the Association sees the bill as an opportunity to make the databank more effective for law enforcement." 

Jessop was 9 when she was tortured and murdered by a neighbour, Calvin Hoover, in 1984.

An innocent man, Guy Paul Morin, was wrongfully convicted and jailed before he was exonerated with DNA evidence. 

In 2020, Toronto police announced a DNA match obtained through genetic genealogy pointed to Hoover, who had subsequently committed suicide in 2015.

Morin received a 1.25-million-dollar settlement from the Ontario provincial government after an inquiry uncovered police and prosecutorial misconduct, including misrepresentation of forensic evidence by investigators at trial. 

Hoover had a non-violent criminal record unrelated to the murder of Jessop. 

CACP wrote:

If Bill S-231’s expanded list of designated offences had been in effect in 2007, Mr. Hoover’s DNA would have been added to the National DNA Databank when convicted of impaired driving. Christine’s murder could have been solved 13 years earlier. Mr. Hoover, who died in 2015, could have stood trial for her murder. The Jessop family may have found justice, and Mr. Morin may have experienced a little more closure.