Murders and sexual assaults receive top priority for DNA analysis, and officers routinely search for this evidence at crime scenes. But at the property crime, it's another story. Officers do not routinely collect biological evidence at these scenes, often because their departmental policies do not authorize such samples to be taken.

But as DNA databases grow at a steady rate, maybe it's time to consider expanding the scope of crimes where this evidence might be collected. Consider the following as reported by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ):

• Burglary has the lowest clearance rate of any Index crime.
• Individuals who commit property crimes have a higher recidivism rate than those who perpetrate other crimes.
• Burglary can be a "gateway" crime that leads to more serious, violent crimes in the future.

In a recent NIJ study, researchers examined New York City's first 1,000 CODIS hits and found in their criminal pasts the majority of suspects were linked to lesser crimes such as burglary or drug involvement. Researchers discovered similar results when they evaluated data from Florida. In that review, researchers determined 52 percent of database hits against murder and sexual assault cases matched individuals with prior convictions for burglary.

The major hurdle to clear when it comes to the use of DNA for property crimes, however, isn't whether it would be useful - there's no disputing that fact. It's the fact that DNA analysis isn't cheap, and with laboratory testing backlogs, it isn't always practical either.

But the question looms: How much might we save if individuals are convicted and incarcerated before they commit murder?

We'd save lives, and it's hard to put a price tag on that.