Advanced DNA offers hope of solving cold cases, but some police forces are slow to embrace it

“We are just starting to use those technologies in Canada, because the legal aspect is not very clear,” said Diane Seguin, head of biology and DNA at the Quebec forensic laboratory.

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Advances in DNA technology have been credited with solving a growing number of unsolved murders in the United States, but some Canadian police forces are falling behind their American counterparts in adopting the new methods.

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Experts say an investigative technique called genetic genealogy, which involves matching crime-scene DNA to the vast amount of public data that has been uploaded to private platforms like Ancestry.com and 23andme, represents the best chance of solving crime-scene murders. decades ago.

However, some Canadian police officers are slower to accept it, in part due to privacy concerns and because it has not yet been tested in the Canadian court system.

Diane Seguin, chief of biology and DNA at the Quebec forensic laboratory, said the province is beginning to apply genetic genealogy in some “very high-profile cases” in partnership with police and prosecutors, who would be responsible for defending it in a case. possible trial. .

“We are just starting to use those technologies in Canada, because the legal aspect is not very clear,” Seguin said in an interview last week.

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With genetic genealogy, genealogists can even use a match against a distant relative’s public profile to build a family tree and identify the suspect, who can then be investigated using traditional law enforcement methods.

The technique has been used several times in Canada, most notably to solve the 1984 murder of nine-year-old Christine Jessop in Ontario. That case was solved with the help of the Texas-based Othram Forensic Laboratory, which also helped identify decades-old remains in Regina and Edmonton.

However, the genetic genealogy has yet to be conclusively proven in a Canadian court because most of the people identified were dead.

The RCMP says it is working to develop a national policy on the use of genetic genealogy that respects Canadian laws, including those that protect privacy. Sergeant Caroline Duval wrote in an email that the RCMP is working with partners including Canada’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner, legal services and the RCMP forensic laboratory to assess the feasibility of using the technique.

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“If a Canadian case goes through the court system with a genealogical DNA component, the decisions rendered may also have an effect on how police use this investigative technique in the future and the development of national and divisional policies,” Duval wrote.

In the meantime, local RCMP detachments may use commercial lab and database services “provided they comply with the labs’ associated terms of service and privacy policies currently in effect,” Duval added.

Brenda McPhail, director of privacy, technology and surveillance at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, says there are numerous privacy concerns surrounding police use of DNA, which she describes as “our most intimate and sensitive information.”

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People who upload their DNA to public sites often want to know more about their family history and may not realize how law enforcement could use the information, he said in an interview Thursday.

Even if they check a box that allows the information to be made public, “can they give meaningful consent in a situation where they are not only consenting to their information being used, but their information being used in a way that implies other people in your family? ” she asked.

McPhail said he is aware of a case involving genetic genealogy before the Ontario courts, which is not yet concluded but could set a precedent. More broadly, he said, there needs to be a conversation about how law enforcement can use advanced DNA and other powerful surveillance technologies and how to balance privacy and the desire to solve crimes.

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Meanwhile, Seguin said the technique may not produce as many immediate results in Canada as it does in the US because Canadians don’t upload their DNA to public websites as often as Americans do, which means researchers they have a smaller pool of samples to draw.

However, he said the Quebec lab is making progress in using new technology to solve cold cases. Seguin said the lab, which handles all forensic work for police forces across the province, works on about 50 cold cases a year.

Sometimes lab technicians reanalyze decades-old evidence with better technology to try to extract DNA, though doing so is complicated by the fact that the samples could be contaminated by careless police work, he said.

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Seguin said the lab also acquired a phenotyping tool, which helps identify likely physical characteristics, such as hair, skin and eye color, from a DNA sample. The lab has a genealogist on staff to reconstruct family trees, she said, adding that it is also creating its own database that matches DNA against certain surnames.

While the process may seem slow, he said just because a cold case isn’t resolved immediately doesn’t mean it won’t be resolved.

Any DNA belonging to a suspect is uploaded to a database and remains permanently on file waiting for a match, whether it’s from a newly arrested criminal or a profile uploaded to a public site, Seguin said.

Police in the province continue to solve old crimes through traditional DNA extraction, with many more likely to occur given the rapid technological advances happening all the time, he added.

“We are at a tipping point, right now, from my point of view,” he said. “In DNA testing we are opening a new era.”

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