The Editor, Sir:

I am personally pleased to hear the prime minister's declaration that priority is being placed on a DNA lab. This will, no doubt, be accompanied by the required laws to enable the security forces to legally obtain and retain specimens until it becomes the crime-fighting forensic tool required in the solving of criminal acts.

The reality check now needed is how to accelerate the collection of fingerprinting data which, as I understand it, now limited only to persons who the police have had reason to have on their records.

If we are to keep pace and have the most powerful forensic tools, which are so desperately needed and essential in the 21st century, we must become proactive and break the bonds of traditional restraints which limit quick response and actions.

The ultimate objective of all this should be to create a national identification card system as quickly as possible to incorporate citizens' data for smoother and more efficient governance.

This alone would, in my opinion, make possible many changes, bring about better administration and reduced costs.

Sometime ago, I made the suggestion that a way be found to make the electoral system's extensive fingerprint database - which has been compiled at great costs to the taxpayer - accessible for national use. This would increase the number of prints available without having to go through, as it now seems, the limited and time-consuming process of having to individually collect only from persons who give reason to enable the police to fingerprint them.

Electoral office's database

In effect, this restricts and slows the ability of the security forces to quickly build a broad-based data source which, I trust, all can see is desirable and essential to curtailing and solving crime and murder.

My suggestion was supported by Danville Walker, then in charge of the electoral office. But it created the usual firestorm among traditional people who remain fixated in their interpretation of human rights, which in this case, relates to the restrictive clause that limits prints being used for anything other than voting.

A referendum could urgently be done to consult with the public to see if there is consensus regarding changes which would enable their fingerprints stored in the database to be used for creating this important tool. If the majority agrees, then the Government could make necessary constitutional changes in the fastest possible time.

Reality of the times

I think the cost of a referendum would be more economical and achieve desired results faster than building a new database from scratch.

Being a realist is a hard road to travel in Jamaica today. It seems to me that so many well-meaning people, who have media images, jealously guard their own traditional stance, which has some undeniable human-rights justifications; but they remain unwilling to vary their focus one iota, despite the reality of changing times and necessities.

I am, etc.,

JEAN B. SEAGA-ANDERSON

jeanron@cwjamaica.com