Online records to follow ex-inmates throughout life

The plan was disclosed by Pol General Chalermkiart Srivorakhan, deputy police commissioner general, and Pol Colonel Narat Sawettanan, director general of the Corrections Department.
The two signed a memorandum of understanding on creating the online database of DNA samples and fingerprints of inmates.
Chalermkiart said the database will be completed within 2019 and it will be available to all relevant government agencies.
“The database will allow the authorities to identify suspects promptly and make prompt arrests if ex-inmates commit crimes again,” Chalermkiart said.
He expressed confidence that the measure would discourage ex-inmates from re-offending.
Narat said he has instructed all prisons nationwide to cooperate with the Metropolitan Police Bureau and nine provincial police bureaus around the country to collect DNA samples and fingerprints of over 300,000 inmates.
Narat said the Corrections Department was supposed to re-educate inmates to return them to society as good people, but with limited staff and resources they cannot widely achieve that goal.
As a result, the online database would be a lower-cost and systematic measure intended to prevent recidivism.