The Government accepted those recommendations, but in one important respect believed that they should go one step further. That would enable the police to take samples for DNA analysis on essentially the same basis as the power to take fingerprints. The Royal Commission's recommendations were implemented by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. This amended the relevant sections of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and provided the legislative framework for the national DNA database. As I have indicated, in order to facilitate the taking of samples for DNA profiling, saliva and mouth swabs have been reclassified as non-intimate samples.
Mouth swabs are simple to take and hence are the preferred method of obtaining samples.
As an alternative, a sample of some 10 plucked hairs are taken. A sample of hair was already classed as a non-intimate sample, but the 1994 Act clarified this to include hair with the roots. The amendments made to PACE also significantly extended the circumstances in which a non-intimate sample could be taken without consent. Prior to the 1994 Act, the circumstances in which such a sample might be taken were narrowly defined. A non-intimate sample could only be taken from a person without consent if he was in police detention and the taking was authorised by a superintendent or above.