BRADENTON- The Florida Legislature has agreed to fund $1.2 million to allow police officers throughout the state to collect DNA samples from those arrested for felonies. In the past, DNA samples were collected after a felon was convicted.
The move will allow officers to check a database to see if the person arrested is connected to DNA discovered at crime scenes throughout the nation.
"We are very pleased with the decision," said Manatee County Sheriff's Office spokesperson, Dave Bristow.
Drew Kesse is also pleased with the decision. He has been lobbying for the change for years.
"The more we can take the scum off the street, that's what we need to do in this world," Kesse said.
Kesse's daughter, Jennifer, was abducted from her vehicle at an Orlando area apartment complex in 2006. The case has never been solved, but someone elses DNA was discovered in her car. With the change to the database, Kesse is hopeful that one day, there will be a match in the database. "It means so much to so many people because we have been victimized and we have been victims."
Florida now joins 21 other states with this database.
And to give you an example of the economic success of the database, law enforcement agencies around the state of Indiana were able to save $60 million over the past year with this program.
