Prop 69: California Jails prepare to take felons' DNA

Proposition 69, which was approved by California voters last month, will force all convicted felons to submit a DNA sample to the state. That prospect has sheriff's deputies at the county jails wondering how they are going to tackle the daunting task of collecting the samples from most of the 5,500 inmates. Small kits, containing a plastic swab that looks much like a clear Popsicle stick, which comes in its own plastic sheath, are packaged with an information card and fingerprint strips. So far, the San Bernardino department has only one of the Buccal DNA Collection Kits a sample issued by the state Department of Justice. And deputies don't know when they'll get any more or how many they'll receive. Oddly enough, the inmates will take their own samples, which will require them to place the stick in their mouths and swipe it rapidly against the inside of their cheek to scrape the skin and collect the DNA sample. After that, they place the stick inside its sheath, upon which their thumbprint will be left and recorded. "It's to eliminate as much argument for error as possible,' said sheriff's Lt. Robert Wellott, commander of the administrative support unit in the corrections bureau. Then the inmate gives his or her fingerprints on two pieces of plastic film, an information card is filled out by a deputy, and the whole thing is tossed into a plastic envelope and mailed to Sacramento where it is logged into a database. It's a much simpler process than drawing blood from convicts to get DNA samples, as is done now for convicts of many sexual crimes. [more]