The DNA database has scored a notable win in the Ipswich murders and the murder of another woman. Predictably the imagined glories of holding everyone’s DNA have been raised again. (BBC, DNA database debate urged.) More fodder for the ongoing project of turning us all into good 1984 citizens – purely selfish, totally conforming, great at spending money, fearful of each other and afraid to open our mouths.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) has added its voice to calls for a debate on the database issue.
The Chief Constable of Lincolnshire, Tony Lake, speaks for the association on DNA.
He said: “If there was a national database of everybody then we would solve more crime, of that there is absolutely no doubt.

A few instances don’t make the case for the huge attack on civil liberties.

The Ipswich murders appear to have had plenty of other evidence besides just DNA. CCTV footage, for a start. Eye-witnesses. And lots more. The DNA itself would have been pretty shaky without the rest of the evidence.

This shows the uselessness of CCTV footage at preventing crime, although it might help to catch criminals. That goes double for DNA. It has no preventative effect whatsoever.

Unsurprisingly, my priority is NOT to be murdered, rather than to be sure that anyone who murdered me was caught. So, I can’t really think it’s a fair trade for my civil liberties to know that anyone who murders me will do time.

Murderers like the Ipswich killer, who kill for reasons deep in their bizarre psychology, tend to plan out their crimes. They pick on vulnerable people who probably won’t be missed, for example. They are pretty capable of becoming too careful to leave DNA. So, catching serial killers through DNA identification is a one-shot deal. As soon as they understand that leaving DNA is a sure route to being caught, they will just stop leaving it.

That throws us back on standard police work, which is liable to get more and more inept, if relying on technology goes much further.

One obvious flaw with relying too heavily on DNA is how easily it can be faked. An enterprising attacker with half a brain could gather a few hairs, a bit of spittle from a cigarette butt or a discarded cup, the fingernail clippings from a manicurists, the sweat left on a bus seat on a hot day, even……

To all those people who parrot the “if you haven’t done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear” line, are you willing to bet your liberty and good name on the belief that all criminals are stupid?