I read something in the paper today about how some people in law enforcement want a database with everyone's DNA fingerprint, so when a crime occurs, they can just take a DNA sample and immediately know who likely did it.

Of course, there are privacy implications, but that's a matter for the Politics board.

What I'm thinking is, wouldn't identical twins be mistaken as the same person? They have identical DNA sequences, do they not?

Although identical twins have the same genotype, or DNA, they have different phenotypes, meaning that the same DNA is expressed in different ways.

Traits determined by phenotype, such as fingerprints and physical appearance, are the result of the interaction of the individual's genes and the developmental environment in the uterus. Thus, a DNA test can't determine the difference between identical twins, while a simple fingerprint can.

I'm no geneticist, but note that it says "DNA fingerprint", which is nothing like the exact base sequence in the DNA, and isn't anywhere near accurate enough to individually identify everyone in a country. It mostly works when you just have a handful of suspects, but if you have an entire country of people, you'd get a lot more matches than just the identical twins.

Somebody who actually knows this stuff can probably correct me here.

We had this stuff on a lecture (I study biotechnology)
and if I remember correctly DNA fingerprinting is about amount of certain repeats in genome and allele differentation not the whole sequence

I guess it could be a problem, but then couldn't the law enforcement officers just find out which of the twins has the weaker alibi and just jail them? If both were involved I guess jail them both.