People are being arrested simply so that their DNA profiles can be recorded on the national database, according to the Chairman of the Human Genetics Commission, Professor Jonathan Montgomery.

It’s not the first time this claim has been made, and data published on this website about the number of new subject-profiles taken suggests it may be true. But the HGC’s report Nothing to Hide, Nothing to Fear does not provide much in the way of evidence to support it – no “smoking gun”, no e-mail from a Chief Constable outlining the policy, no Home Office Directive.
 
True, it does quote evidence from a retired chief superintendent who says arresting somebody simply to get a profile is "the norm" - but the Association of Chief Police Officers says the assertion is “plainly wrong”.
 
However, the circumstantial evidence is certainly building up. An article on this website showed a major increase (over 700,000 in each year) in DNA subject-profiles added in 2005/06 and 2006/07 to the database. This was not matched by equivalent trends in added crime-scene profiles; and new subject-profiles added dropped back to under 600,000 in 2007/08 and 2008/09. 
 
These trends, which appear unrelated to actual levels of recorded crime, need explanation – which was  lacking from the recently published Annual Report for the DNA Database for 2007-09.