➡ 

N 

T CRIMINAL JUSTICE SOLUTIONS 

Benefits in Public Safety 

NOV. 04 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

National Institute of Justice 

SHORT 

OWARD 

DNA in “Minor” Crimes Yields Major 

THE ISSUE 	 Property crime offenders have high recidivism rates, their crime and 

violence can escalate, and property crime cases often go unsolved.1 

It has been estimated that each burglar in the top 10 percent of burglars commits more than 232 burglaries per year.

2 Several police 

departments in the United States are finding that they may be able 

to change these trends. When they analyze DNA from a burglary, they 

get evidence that often solves several other cases as well. And they 

are finding that biological evidence collected from property crime 

scenes can prevent future property crimes and more serious offenses. 

The Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), Palm Beach County 

Sheriff’s Office, and New York City Police Department (NYPD) are 

solving high-volume property crimes (like burglary and auto theft) 

and violent crimes (like sexual assault and murder) using DNA funds 

they received from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). They are 

discovering that analyzing DNA from property crimes can have 

major public safety benefits. 

BACKGROUND 	 Biological evidence can be retrieved from property crime scenes. 

Burglars often cut themselves on broken glass as they enter a property—and blood is an obvious source of DNA evidence. Plus crime 

labs can get a profile from “invisible” DNA evidence police retrieve 

from the sweatband inside a cap, from the inside of a mask, on a 

cigarette butt, in chewing gum, on a drinking glass, or from a halfeaten sandwich. In New York, analysts have had great success processing this “invisible” burglary evidence from the skin cells 

deposited from perspiration or saliva. 

Office of Justice Programs ■ Partnerships for Safer Communities ■ www.ojp.usdoj.gov 
2 PUBLIC SAFETY 

IMPACT 

Mark Dale, crime lab director at the NYPD, said that in his experience, when DNA from 

a no-suspect murder scene is checked against records in the Combined DNA Index 

System (CODIS)3, it often matches DNA from a no-suspect burglary. Review of the 

State’s first 1,000 hits showed that the vast majority were linked to crimes like homicide and rape, but of these, 82 percent of the offenders were already in the databank 

as a result of a prior conviction for a “lesser” crime such as burglary or drugs.4 

According to a Florida State study, 52 percent of database hits against murder and 

sexual assault cases matched individuals who had prior convictions for burglary.

5 

With NIJ support, the crime labs in Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and New York City have 

achieved dramatic results by analyzing biological evidence collected from property 

crime scenes. 

The Numbers. In New York, biological evidence from 201 burglaries yielded 86 

CODIS-acceptable DNA profiles. On the basis of these numbers, the lab has thus 

far been able to identify several “pattern” burglaries. One profile uncovered a fiveburglary serial offender. Most of New York’s DNA profiles resulted in forensic hits to 

multiple unsolved cases. Three were linked to more serious, violent crimes such as 

sexual assault and robbery. In all, 37 burglary profiles have been linked through 

CODIS to other unsolved cases; 31 of the newly analyzed cases were matched through 

CODIS to convicted offenders and are now being investigated; arrests are pending. 

DNA in blood stains collected at the scenes of four household burglaries in MiamiDade linked all cases to the same offender, who turned out to be a previously convicted burglar. DNA evidence also linked three different no-suspect vehicle and residential 

burglaries and identified the perpetrator—he, too, turned out to be a previously convicted burglar. 

Overall, in Miami-Dade, 526 no-suspect DNA profiles produced 271 hits; in Palm 

Beach, 229 profiles produced 91 hits. Of the 362 CODIS hits, 56 percent came from evidence collected at burglary scenes. 

The Cost. The cost of DNA testing depends on several factors: the number of samples 

tested per case, the type of DNA testing needed (nuclear or mitochondrial), and the 

cost to have police collect biological evidence at property crime scenes and pursue 

investigative leads generated by CODIS hits. 

But the cost of DNA analysis must be weighed against the losses from crime incurred 

by the public. The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates the average property loss 

from burglary is $1,500.6 Bud Stuver, who heads the DNA testing program at the 

MDPD, looks at affordability from the broad perspective of the costs to the justice 

system as a whole. “It is much more expeditious to employ DNA testing than to 

pay investigators.” 
THE BOTTOM 	 “We move quickly when profiles are needed for the high-priority crimes of murder and 3

LINE 	 rape,” says Cecilia Crouse, who supervises the DNA section of the Palm Beach County 

Sheriff’s Office crime lab. The crime labs in New York City, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach 

have shown that DNA can go a long way toward solving property crimes as well as violent crimes. Law enforcement agencies can clear even more cases when they collect biological evidence not just from the scenes of major crimes, but also from high-volume 

crimes, such as burglary. 

Bud Stuver, who has trained many officers in the MDPD to collect DNA at property crimes, 

shows them “it’s worth the time and effort.” 

Mark Dale, in the NYPD, noted his lab is “now gathering data to investigate the links 

between recidivism, lesser offenses, and more serious crimes.” If forthcoming data can 

show the links, then it may be possible in some instances to prevent murder by solving 

burglaries. 

FOR MORE Visit http://www.dna.gov. 

INFORMATION 

NOTES 	 1. Langan, P.A., and D.J. Levin, Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994, Washington, 

DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002 (NCJ 193427): 1, 8; 

Crime in the United States 2002: 221, 223. Burglary had the lowest clearance rate of any 

Index crime. (Violent crimes are often more rigorously investigated, which explains why 

their clearance rate is higher than for property crimes.) 

2. Chaiken, J.M. and M.R. Chaiken, Varieties of Criminal Behavior, Washington, DC: 

U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, 1982 (NCJ 87680): 44. 

3. CODIS is an FBI-distributed database that allows Federal, State, and local crime labs 

to exchange and compare DNA profiles. 

4. Source: http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/forensic/dnabrochure.htm. 

5. Source: Florida Department of Law Enforcement State DNA Database Statistics, 

Tallahassee, Florida. 

6. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2000, 

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001 

(NCJ 190251): 304. 

This document is not intended to create, does not create, and may not be relied upon to create any rights, substantive or procedural, enforceable at 

law by any party in any matter civil or criminal. Opinions or points of view expressed in this document represent a consensus of the authors and do not 

represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. The products and manufacturers discussed in this document are presented 

for informational purposes only and do not constitute product approval or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Justice. 
PRESORTED STANDARD


POSTAGE & FEES PAID


DOJ/NIJ
 DOJ/NIJ

PERMIT NO. G–91


U.S. Department of J Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

National Institute of Justice *NCJ~207203* 

Washington, DC 20531 ashington, DC 20531 

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

4 

DNA in “Minor” Crimes Yields Major Benefits in Public Safety 


IN


➡TOWARD CRIMINAL JUSTICE SOLUTIONS 

SHORT 

NCJ 207203