Dutch DNA database makes 25,000th criminal hit

The Netherlands' DNA database made its 25,000th match last night. It involved a match between evidence found in the Netherlands and a person whose DNA profile is in the Austrian DNA database.

The DNA database for criminal cases is run by the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI). The DNA profiles in the Netherlands' database are automatically compared to DNA profiles on the databases of other EU countries every night. This has been happening since 2008.

The Netherlands currently compares DNA with a total of 20 EU Member States. This number will probably be increased to 27 in the near future. Non-EU countries Norway and Iceland have also indicated that they would like to join the network.

Belgium is the newest country to join the DNA comparing network. The Netherlands has made 2,064 matches with Belgium since it joined last summer.