President Bush has signed into law a bill to give local police across the country increased access to federal DNA databases. The law epands the national DNA database by allowing states to add samples to it as well as compare their samples with the national database.

The law also includes the Innocent Protection Act, which helps those incarcerated prove their innocence, and the Debbie Smith Act, which provides grants to states to increase education, testing, and analysis of DNA evidence.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the California democrat who wrote the bill, believes it will help law enforcement as well as citizens.

“Not only does it help convict those who are guilty and out walking the streets, it also exonerates those who have been wrongly convicted,” says Schiff.