Saliva sample
The oral mucosa smear is colloquially referred to as a saliva sample.
It is not, as is usually assumed, saliva that is saved, but mainly cell material from the oral mucosa. This is usually done with a cotton swab, which is rubbed several times in the cheek pockets of the person concerned, so that sufficient amounts of cell material are applied to the carrier material. Because of this procedure, one also speaks of a cheek swab .
A genetic fingerprint or a DNA profile is obtained from the secured cells , often also as a DNA serial examination .
Carrying out the removal of body cells for criminal purposes is a sovereign measure that requires the presence of a police officer. The legal basis for DNA analysis and related measures are regulated in the Code of Criminal Procedure (§ 81a StPO) and in the DNA Identity Establishment Act.
Ronny Rieken was the first sex offender to be convicted in Germany with a DNA mass test . This contributed significantly to the public and legal acceptance of this method. In April 1998, when the search for Rieken was still in full swing, the DNA analysis file , a cooperation between the State Criminal Police Offices and the Federal Criminal Police Office, went into operation. Rieken went to the saliva test with relatives because he couldn't think of an excuse.
In April 2011, the Hamburg police captured Martin Ney , a murderer of three children. It became known that the police had asked him to voluntarily provide a saliva sample in late 2008. "He did not comply with the summons," said Wilhelm Möllers from the Hamburg public prosecutor. "The legal requirements for compulsory removal did not exist."
