Critics: DNA test is racial profiling

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- The police department's decision to test the DNA of hundreds of black men in their search for a serial rapist has angered community leaders who view it as racial profiling.
At a forum at the University of Virginia, city leaders, academics and residents criticized the practice during a presentation by city Police Chief Timothy J. Longo and other law enforcement personnel.
"Because the suspect is black, every black man is a suspect," said University of Virginia graduate student Steven Turner, who has twice refused to be tested. "What are we going to do about this as a community?"
Longo said police question and test men for three reasons: Tips from the public, a potential suspect has a record of sex crimes or burglaries, or a 911 call alerts authorities about a man who resembles the drawing of the rapist.
As of Monday, Longo said, 690 men have been eliminated from the list of possible suspects and 10 have refused to submit to a swab test, in which DNA is collected from a potential suspect's cheek.
The serial rapist has been linked by forensic evidence to six attacks since February 1997, although Longo estimated that the same man could be responsible for up to 12 more sexual assaults.