Police in Charlottesville Suspend 'DNA Dragnet'Charlottesville police have temporarily halted their practice of asking some black men to voluntarily provide DNA samples as part of the hunt for a serial rapist, Police Chief Timothy J. Longo Sr. said yesterday.
Longo, who is reexamining the months-long policy amid criticism from the black community and others, said he is confident that the DNA collection will continue once the department develops more "stringent, well-defined criteria" regarding which men will be asked to provide genetic samples.
Charlottesville police have asked 197 black men to submit to cheek swabs as part of the search for a rapist who has attacked at least six women since 1997. In most of those requests, police said, officers were responding to tips about men who resembled a composite sketch of the rapist or who seemed to be acting strangely.
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