Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether DNA samples are routinely taken from all police officers; and for how long DNA samples taken from police officers are retained.

It is currently a condition of employment that all police officers who could be in a position to contaminate any crime scene, suspect or victim, or material recovered from them, to provide a sample of DNA for analysis as part of their terms of employment.

DNA samples taken from police officers are destroyed within 6 months of the date taken. The profiles derived from the DNA samples can be searched on the Contamination Elimination Database for 12 months after the individual has left employment. This is for the purpose of identifying any historical contamination events.