There are 82,473 genetic profiles in the city’s database, known as the Local DNA Index System — an increase of nearly 29 percent in the past two years, according to the Legal Aid Society.

The police say the database is effective in identifying criminals and solving crimes, but some New Yorkers are concerned that it violates privacy rights, my colleagues Jan Ransom and Ashley Southall reported.

[Read more about the database.]

The genetic database is just one of many in the country that operate with little if any oversight.

The big concerns: privacy and trust

More than 31,000 of the profiles were derived from children and adults who were suspected, but not convicted, of crimes, the Legal Aid Society said.

“It’s essentially saying, ‘Give us your entire genome, even though we don’t have any reason to believe you have committed a crime,’” said Erin E. Murphy , a New York University law professor who has written about DNA databases and DNA profiling.