Law Enforcement May Now Utilize DNA Fingerprinting on Violent Crime Offenders

President Barack Obama signed into law U.S. Senator Charles Schumer's legislation to provide state law enforcement agencies with incentives to require mandatory DNA fingerprinting for anyone who has been arrested for a violent crime.

The law would help states cover the cost of implementation of a DNA collection process, which would help determine whether suspects have also committed previous crimes.

Currently, the federal government and 25 states use DNA to identify persons arrested for violent crimes; New York, however, is not one of those states.

The legislation will provide financial incentives for states to utilize more sophisticated crime fighting tools to bring to justice killers and violent offenders who, though apprehended, may go undetected for earlier crimes. The bill passed the senate in early January.