Gov. Mark R. Warner announced recently that the Virginia Division of Forensic Science has scored its 2000th DNA databank hit. A "hit" occurs when a DNA profile developed from any biological fluid, tissue, or hair recovered from a crime scene is matched to an individual in the state DNA databank.

"I congratulate the dedicated personnel of the Virginia Division of Forensic Sciences for reaching the 2,000th hit," said Warner. "This benchmark reflects rapidly growing input into the databank, and increasing reliance on this powerful tool by law enforcement and prosecutors in investigating and solving criminal cases."

In 1989, the Virginia General Assembly passed the nation's first DNA databank law, requiring all convicted sex offenders to provide a DNA sample to the Division of Forensic Science. In 1990, this law was expanded to include all convicted felons. In January of 2003, the law was further expanded to include persons arrested for a violent felony after a finding of probable cause by a magistrate. As a result of these laws, by 2004, the number of individuals in Virginia's database exceeded 216,000.

Approximately 11 percent of the types of criminal investigations assisted or solved by these "hits" were homicides, 21 percent were sex offenses, and 59 percent involved property crimes. The remaining 9 percent included miscellaneous crimes such as indecent exposure, aggravated assault, peeping toms and arson of an unoccupied dwelling.

"Our DNA databank program in Virginia has served as the model and impetus for almost every other state in the U.S.," said Dr. Paul Ferrara, director of the Virginia Division of Forensic Science. "The data we have collected over the years, and the results we have achieved, have demonstrated to other states and the federal government how revolutionary an investigative tool DNA databases can be to the criminal justice system. Not only have they served to identify the perpetrators of crime, but to exonerate the innocent as well."

Virginia spent eight years building its databank to achieve the first thousand "hits." But the second thousand were achieved in just 18 months. The Virginia Division of Forensic Science believes that some other states which have followed Virginia's lead in the development of these databank laws will soon surpass Virginia's totals by virtue of their larger populations.