Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police is opposing a new DNA policy under which officers will be asked to provide samples of their DNA at crime scenes - all this in the midst of negotiations over a new contract with the city.

Officers will be asked to submit DNA samples if they have touched a gun or other crime scene evidence, allowing investigators to rule out those officers from DNA gathered at the crime scene.

Although DNA from officers who sign the waivers will not be entered into a national DNA database, the DNA from those who don't volunteer to offer samples likely will be.

The union charges that there's no way to tell what will happen to an officer's DNA after it leaves the lab, and the union is urging officers not to sign a waiver to submit their DNA at crime scenes.

Police are concerned about how the policy will be interpreted at crime scenes that don't necessarily involve a weapon. "Will DNA be taken only when police are involved in a shooting, or will it be used whenever the department feels like using it? If you do not touch an offender’s weapon will the department still take your DNA?," the union states in a letter to officers.

This all comes after a report by cbs2chicago.com that more people were shot and killed in Chicago this summer (123) than soldiers in Iraq over the same period (65). Department spokesman Monique Bond said she disagreed with the numbers but declined to offer further details. Murder in the city is up 18% from 2007.

Over the summer six people were killed in gun violence, and four were injured in the 22nd District, which covers Mount Greenwood, Beverly and Morgan Park. The nearby Calumet District, which includes the Roseland, Fernwood and Pullman neighborhoods, saw eight killed and 20 injured.

The FOP's letters also questions the destination of DNA samples: "The department form states 'I understand that these samples will be presented to the Illinois State Police Forensic Center, or other appropriate laboratories for analysis.' We don’t even know where your DNA sample will be sent. There are many other questions which need to be answered, but the department apparently does not want to provide any answers."

The union also argues that during the six months of talks with the city, it has never agreed to the DNA testing policy. "Now the department backdoors the union and hopes to trick you into signing a form voluntarily," the letter states. "For the department to circumvent the union and the negotiating process ... is just another attempt at union busting."