Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In the United States, if the victim is undecided about reporting the rape, the kit may instead be stored at the exam facility or a law enforcement facility as an "anonymous" kit. [27] The law enforcement agency conducting the rape investigation can send the rape kit, in whole or in part, to the forensic science crime lab for analysis. Forensic ...
The law overhauls the way that rape kits are processed within the United States and creates a bill of rights for victims. Through the law, survivors of sexual assault are given the right to have a rape kit preserved for the length of the case's statute of limitations, to be notified of an evidence kit's destruction, and to be informed about ...
An October 2008 audit of the Los Angeles city crime lab by Human Rights Watch revealed that rape kit backlogs increased between 2004 and 2008, despite nearly $4 million in Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Program grants. In January 2007, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) revealed that approximately 5,000 rape kits resided in LAPD storage facilities.
The agencies didn’t test backlogged kits in cases with a previous confession, guilty plea or conviction, or if the suspect’s DNA already was in the national database.
Agencies across the country that received federal money to address neglected sexual assault kits need to do a better job of following up on test results, including supporting survivors and ...
Since then, 90 local and state agencies have been allocated about $350 million dollars in Justice Department grants intended to help test backlogged kits, solve more cases and give answers to rape ...
Many "rape kits" are untested because they are never submitted to crime labs or because crime labs have insufficient resources to test all of the submitted kits. [2] [3] [4] In the United States, national surveys of law enforcement agencies suggest there may be upwards of 200,000 untested rape kits in 2015. [5]
Contact the law enforcement agency where you reported your assault, the local prosecutor’s office or both and tell them you are looking for information about what happened to your sexual assault ...