Considerations on the UK Re-Arrest Hazard Data Analysis: How Model Selection can alter Conclusions for Policy Development

At time of writing, the policy of DNA profile retention for Constabularies within England and Wales is determined by the Association of Chief Police Officer’s (ACPO) 2006 Retention Guidelines for Nominal Records on the Police National Computer (PNC), which was developed following the passing of the Criminal and Police Act 2001 and the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The former of these legislations ended the requirement for Constabularies to destroy DNA records relating to persons acquitted or who had their case discontinued, whilst the latter extended powers so as to permit the taking of DNA records without consent from any individual arrested for a recordable offence. These Retention Guidelines detail a governing principle that all records held on the PNC should be maintained until the person in question reaches 100 years of age, regardless of status of conviction, caution, acquittal, or No Further Action (NFA). As such, by 2010 there were over 5 million persons with profiles on the UK National DNA database, with approximately 1 million of these having no record of conviction or caution. This policy was challenged, first unsuccessfully through the UK judicial system, before successfully being appealed in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of S and Marper v. UK (2008) ECHR 1581, where it was found to violate the data subject’s rights under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights: