NYPDs DNA file saves teens lives but know-nothing Council wants it shut down

New York City kids are in trouble.Last year, youths were victimized at the highest levels since NYPD started officially collating their stats — including record numbers of kids who suffered rape, robbery, felony and misdemeanor assaults, and grand and petit larcenies.Overall, we’ve seen a heartbreaking 71% increase in NYC minors victimized by major crimes in the past half-decade .This doesn’t happen in a vacuum.NYC kids are hurt largely because they are sucked into a vortex of teens who behave badly — and who pressure or scare each other into behaving worse.Indeed, last year was also record-setting for juvenile arrests for robbery, felony and misdemeanor assault, grand and petit larceny.Gun arrests were up by a third in the past half-decade, while narcotics arrests rose a disastrous 81% since 2021.Now the New York City Council, in its infinite non-wisdom, is looking to drag kids even further from the one skill that will help them avoid this maelstrom of criminality: behaving well.With its renewed push to keep cops from collecting DNA samples from minors, the council would remove yet another deterrent to violence and delinquency from this vulnerable population.The bill, now in committee and sponsored by progressive council members too dim to recognize the relationship between bad criminal justice policies and rising youth crime, would require the consent of parents, legal guardians, or attorney for pre-arrest DNA sampling of minors.NYPD officials last month told councilmembers just how limited — and how critical — the current DNA collection regime is.Officers only take “abandonment samples” from teens in relation to felony cases — and for kids under age 13, only for the most serious felonies.

The only exceptions are for sex and hate crimes and gun cases.Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Please provide a valid email address.

By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and...