It's a fair cop: Police academy uses DNA testing on students

"Groundbreaking": Police are DNA testing its newest crop of student police to screen them against its crime database. Photo: Phil Carrick

For the first time, the NSW Police Force has used DNA testing to screen its newest crop of 189 student police against its crime database.

The screening at the police academy last Saturday coincided with new figures, obtained under freedom of information laws, that showed 437 active police in NSW have 595 criminal convictions.

About 70 per cent of those convictions, including break, enter and steal, and serious drink driving convictions, were committed before officers were employed by the police. Another five convictions were recorded by student police, including two fraud charges, and another six were by probationary constables.

The DNA testing, using swabs from inside the mouth, was ''groundbreaking'', assistant commissioner Michael Corboy said in a statement. ''It is a further layer of comfort to us that we are hiring the right people.''

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Mr Corboy, commander of education and training, stressed the testing had been ''long scheduled for that day,'' and that the decision to introduce DNA testing was made by Commissioner Andrew Scipione's executive team last November.

In addition to DNA tests, every aspiring police officer will also face a face-to-face behavioural interview by a panel.

The results of the DNA testing are not yet available, but Greens MLC David Shoebridge said it would detect only those who did not already have a conviction.

And it did not answer the question as to why there were so many police with convictions.

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It's a fair cop: Police academy uses DNA testing on students