Sheriff Jason Ard announced that the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office recently became the second agency in the United States to integrate Rapid DNA technology into its booking process at the Livingston Parish Detention Center.
Rapid DNA is the fully automated process of developing a DNA profile from a buccal (cheek) swab without human intervention. This technology allows for a DNA sample, collected from an individual arrested either for a felony or certain misdemeanor offenses in accordance with state law, to be analyzed directly from the jail using an FBI-approved Rapid DNA system. Once a DNA profile is obtained, it is automatically enrolled into the CODIS database – through a secure network – where it is searched nationally against evidence DNA profiles obtained from high profile crimes of special concern. If a CODIS hit is obtained, a notification is automatically sent to both the investigating Law Enforcement Agency and the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office notifying both agencies of the hit while the arrestee is still in custody. The entire process takes as little as ninety minutes.
