Chief Constables are to be told to end the postcode lottery for innocent people who want their DNA removed from the national database.
Senior officers want to standardise the procedure to have sensitive records deleted in "exceptional cases" in forces across England and Wales.
They will write to every police chief to highlight existing legislation in a bid to create a level playing field after research revealed police practices differ widely.
The move comes after the coalition Government pledged to shake up the collection and retention of DNA, along the lines of police in Scotland.
West Midlands chief constable Chris Sims, the national lead on forensics, said he will contact senior colleagues "within weeks" to urge them to consider appropriate cases.
Speaking at the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) annual conference in Manchester on Wednesday, he said police are anticipating changes to the law.
He said: "The old legislation was loosely drawn and chief constables are interpreting it on their own terms.
"What I will be doing is, in support of legislation we believe is coming, we will be using the letter to try and generate a level playing field in which decision making operates.
"It is not a radical change of policy, it is making sure it is being implemented in a reasonable consistent way.
"It is not surprising that anything that is wholly based on discretion will not operate consistently because you will run up against different views by different people."
