CODIS—Crime
The FBI Laboratory's
Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) began as a pilot
software project
in 1990 serving 14 state and local laboratories. The
DNA Identification Act of 1994 formalized the FBI's
authority to establish a National DNA Index System (NDIS)
for law enforcement purposes. Today, over 170 public
law enforcement laboratories participate in NDIS across
the United States. Internationally, more than 40 law
enforcement laboratories in over 25 countries use the
CODIS software for their own database initiatives.
CODIS generates investigative leads in cases where biological evidence is
recovered from the crime scene. Matches made among profiles in the Forensic
Index can link crime scenes together, possibly identifying serial offenders.
Based upon a match, police from multiple jurisdictions can coordinate their
respective investigations and share the leads they developed independently.
Matches made between the Forensic and Offender Indexes provide investigators
with the identity of a suspected perpetrator(s). Since names and other
personally identifiable information are not stored at NDIS, qualified DNA
analysts in the laboratories sharing matching profiles contact each other
to confirm the candidate match.
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