The Justice Ministry will seek 160 million baht from the cabinet for collect DNA from prison inmates to facilitate crime investigation and prevent false imprisonment.
The Justice Ministry plans DNA collection among prisoners to facilitate crime investigation. (Photo by Chudate Seehawong)
Pol Col Dusadee Arayawuthi, deputy permanent secretary for justice, said on Wednesday that he would propose the budget request to Justice Minister Paiboon Khoomchaya next week to fund DNA collection by the Central Institute of Forensic Science.
With collection costing 5,000 baht per prisoner, the budget will cover about 30,000 inmates. That matches the approximate number of inmates released from prison annually.
Pol Col Dusadee said that DNA collection complied with the regulations of the Corrections Department concerning inmate profiles. Historically, the department collected fingerprints, but those became unclear and problematic over time, obstructing authorities' investigations, he said.
DNA collection would help authorities investigate other crimes that inmates had committed and settle crimes among inmates including theft and physical assaults, the deputy permanent secretary for justice said.
DNA would also help prevent false imprisonment and assure that persons imprisoned and later released were the same, Pol Col Dusadee said.
The DNA collection would begin with prisoners held on drug offenses at maximum-security prisons, he said.