As of August 1, Swiss law enforcement can create a detailed suspect profile based on DNA traces found at the scene of a crime.
The revised DNA Profiling Act allows DNA phenotyping, a method capable of providing clues about certain physical traits of crime suspects. Until now, DNA analysis was only used to establish a DNA profile and thus obtain information on the sex of the suspect.
Now, the DNA traces left behind at the scene of a crime can be used to deduce, with a certain degree of probability, physical traits such as the colour of eyes, hair and skin, as well as geographical origin and age of suspects.
“Thanks to phenotyping, for example, the police can assume, with a certain degree of probability, that the trace left at the scene of an offence comes from a man of around 45 with brown hair and green eyes from Western Europe,” stated a press release on Wednesday from the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol).
According to Fedpol, the new tool will enable the police to narrow down the circle of suspects, crosscheck witness statements and reopen cold cases.
However, a 2020 report on the revised law by the Foundation for Technology Assessment (TA-Swiss) pointed out that such results indicate only probabilities and are therefore liable to error. The study recommends using this method only in particularly serious cases, “because while it can exonerate a wrongly accused person, it can also incriminate an innocent person”.