Reunion Online

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed making New York State the first state in the country to expand its DNA database to include anyone who has been convicted of a crime. In his annual State of the State Address, Cuomo said he would seek to expand the database to cover all crimes which would result in preventing future crimes and would help exonerate wrongfully accused individuals.

Police departments around the state — both real and fictional — are rallying behind Gov. Cuomo’s push for a statewide DNA database.

Actress Mariska Hargitay is urging politicians to support the possible expansion of the U.S. Dna registry, so real-life detectives would be able to solve assault, abuse and murder cases faster.

New York law enforcement officials are pushing for a major expansion to the state's DNA databank. If approved, the state would require those convicted of misdemeanor crimes to submit DNA samples just like felony convicts already do.

A recently formed organization that contends there is a nationwide backlog of untested rape kits told The Associated Press on Monday that it was teaming with a New York university to try to figure out how many are sitting on police department shelves as a first step in clearing the logjam.

When Valerie Neumann woke up dazed and physically bruised the morning after her 21st birthday, the awful reality began to sink in that she had been raped. Neumann then made the difficult decision many sexual assault victims make -- to submit to the ordeal of a rape kit at her local hospital.

Two decades after their first use in New York emergency rooms, rape testing kits are being updated for the DNA age.