Police fishing with ever larger nets

The Swedish police is increasingly using large-scale saliva sampling to aid its investigations. The liberal daily Dagens Nyheter warns of a trend in which people are suspects even before a crime has been committed: "The larger the net, the more suspicious fish will be caught up in it. But also many other fish. So far the rule for police work has been that first a crime is committed and then the perpetrator is sought. Now they have a suspect first and then they look for the crime. ... This is like a turn of tides - and it is not without problems. … We're talking about an attack on personal integrity that stands in no relation to the actual offence. Suspects also have the right to a certain protection of their personal sphere. The police regularly taking saliva samples reflects an 'us and them' mentality. Youthful misdeeds could come to light by chance, because information is stored in the database for 30 years."

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