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The timeline below shows how recent federal laws have flooded the FBI’s lab with DNA samples. You will see that in 2003, before the laws were passed, only 7,000 samples entered the lab. By 2012, there will be about 1.2 million. What caused such a surge? For starters, the 2004 Justice for All Act required that DNA be taken from all federal convicts, regardless of the severity of their crimes. Then, in 2005, Congress ramped up DNA collection again, this time in the Violence Against Women Act. The law requires DNA from anyone arrested for a federal crime, even if they weren’t ultimately convicted, and from anyone detained by federal authorities. Please note that this expanded collection did not begin until March of this year and will take about three years to reach the 1.2 million mark.

Source: FBI

Produced by Krista Kjellman, ProPublica