This should make you consider what kind of country we live in.
Police take a DNA sample from a child every 10 minutes in England and Wales, figures obtained by the Howard League for Penal Reform reveal today (20 May).
New research by the charity has found that officers took swabs from almost 54,000 boys and girls aged 17 or under during 2011.
They included at least 368 10-year-olds and 1,030 11-year-olds, meaning that on average officers took samples from 27 primary school-age children every week.
Many of the children required to give a sample will not have been charged with a criminal offence.
Under current rules, police can retain indefinitely the DNA of anyone they arrest for a recordable offence. A new law, imposing tighter restrictions on DNA retention, is expected to come into force later this year.
In 2010, officers took almost 70,000 DNA samples from under-18s, including four from children who were younger than 10 – the age of criminal responsibility.
Thames Valley Police took samples from a seven-year-old and a two-year-old; Avon and Somerset Police took a sample from a five-year-old; and Gloucestershire Police took a sample from a baby who was younger than 12 months.
About 30 per cent of the child DNA samples taken by police come from girls.
