Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000 - NSW Ombudsman - NSW ...

Figure 9 illustrates similar trends for steal motor vehicle offences.
Figure 09: Cold links for offence of steal motor vehicle between January 2002 and December 2004
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
January to June 2002
July to December 2002
January to June 2003
July to December 2003
January to June 2004
July to December 2004
January to June
2002
July to December
2002
January to June
2003
July to December
2003
January to June
2004
July to December
2004
Identification
15
61
88
144
127
154
Charges
9
33
45
78
75
49
Offences
16
53
52
93
99
63
Convictions
15
44
37
74
45
14
Source: Information provided by FPIT on 22 June 2005. Convictions are recorded against the period in which the
identification occurred.
In figures 8 and 9, the differences between identifications, charges, offences and convictions result because
identifications relate to the number of persons identified by a cold link (persons linked to multiple crime scenes are
counted more than once), the charges relate to the number of persons charged (not the number of offences they
are charged with as offences are listed separately) and the convictions are the number of offences that have been
finalised by a court. In looking at the convictions, less convictions are recorded for more recent identifications/charges
as more of these matters have not, as yet, been finalised in court hearings. In addition, as more profiles are placed on
the DNA database, more identifications have occurred over time.
5.4.4. Eliminations
DAL advised that it is not possible to report on the number of people eliminated from police investigations through
DNA analysis, but estimates that about 480 suspects have been eliminated since the Act commenced. 366
The fact that no warm link is made does not necessarily exclude a suspect from investigation. For example, it could
be that no DNA was found on the item submitted for analysis, or that somebody else’s DNA was on the item.
This does not mean the suspect was not involved. This is especially so in cases where there are multiple offenders.
The estimates provided by DAL suggest that for every elimination, there are between six and seven warm links.
Expressed another way, of all the cases where DNA analysis results in either a warm link or an elimination, 87 per
NSW Ombudsman
DNA sampling and other forensic procedures conducted on suspects and volunteers under the Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000 67