National Backlog of Untested Rape Kits - 1904 Words

Policy Analysis A. What is the policy? There exists national backlog of untested rape kits. This is an outrage with disastrous consequences for sexual assault victims. Currently, around 400,000 rape kits sit unexamined in laboratories and in police storage across the country—each one of them containing the potential to solve a crime, incarcerate a rapist and provide a victim with the justice they deserve. There are two types of rape kit backlogs in the United States: the publicly-known backlog of unexamined kits that have already been submitted to labs for testing and the secreted backlog of kits in law enforcement safekeeping that have not been sent for testing. This latter backlog is of particular concern since the programs already in place to reduce backlogs in laboratories, were not intended to address unexamined evidence stored in police stations. http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=InNewsContentRecord_id=d005d0ed-c1ad-4971-ad7b-edf6ffb20307 . Implementing the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Reporting (SAFER) Act would help State and local law enforcement agencies to end both the police storage and laboratory rape kit backlogs by providing State and local governments with subsidy to conduct one-year audits of the unexamined sexual assault evidence in their possession. http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=InNewsContentRecord_id=d005d0ed-c1ad-4971-ad7b-edf6ffb20307 . The act would also create a nationwide sexual assault forensicShow MoreRelatedThe Rape Kits Should Not Be Tested1164 Words   |  5 PagesWhy Backlogged Rape Kits Should Not Be Tested Imagine being an overworked investigator. More and more cases flood the desks of everyone, even though they are already pushed to their breaking point. Each person tries to handle each case that comes in, but some of these cases have no hope of ever becoming trials. Should not those cases be dropped, so investigators can focus on current cases that need immediate attention? This scenario ensues everyday in not only the offices of police and investigators