Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/24680
PATRICIA WILLIAMS national I REPORTS NY U.S. CRIMINAL WHO ISN’T apprehended and convicted is likely to commit an average of six more crimes, according to foren- sic specialists. So what happens when rapists go free because the evidence that might convict them goes untest- ed? How many crimes against women could have been averted? As Ms. recently reported (“Rape Kits in Cold Storage,” Winter 2009), 12,000 kits of DNA evidence gath- ered from women who had been sex- ually assaulted in Los Angeles City and County had remained refrigerat- ed and untested for years. Now, final- ly, with pressure from advocacy groups such as Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Feminist Majority and NOW, significant progress has been made in catching up on the backlog. The Los Angeles City Police De- partment (LAPD), which instigated a backlog-elimination plan in May, has reduced the number of untested kits by more than half. “We are adding 26 criminalists or tech assistants this year and are on track to eliminate the back- log [completely] by mid-2011,” says LAPD Deputy Chief Charles Beck. 14 | FALL 2009 The Testing Has Begun A The rape kits that languished too long in police refrigerators now help bring criminals to justice The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has also advanced on its backlog. In mid-August, Sheriff Lee Baca agreed to fund testing for kits that had lain overlooked for as long as 10 years. By the beginning of September, 1,334 kits were sent to labs for testing—and bingo, a suspect in a gang rape was identified, along with suspects in seven other cold cases. Although the LAPD received $4.9 million between 2004 and 2007 from the federal Debbie Smith Act, spon- sored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D- N.Y.), to clear out DNA evidence backlogs, the money had been priori- tized for training excursions, clearing up backlogs in homicide cases and delving into property crimes. The number of untested rape kits actually increased. New York led the way in rape jus- tice when then-Police Chief Howard Safir discovered 16,000 untested rape kits in 1999. New York’s backlog is now gone, and as of January the test- ed kits generated 2,000 cold hits and 200 active investigations, arrests or prosecutions. The arrest rate for rape in the region dramatically increased Funding has finally come through to test rape kits in Los Angeles. from 40 to 70 percent. Other cities are starting to catch on as well. The Illinois State Police Crime Lab, for example, continues to struggle with a DNA backlog that can cause yearlong delays, but officials are determined that all kits be tested. As the attorney general’s deputy chief of staff, Cara Smith, told the Chicago Tribune, “It’s so rare for survivors of sexual assault to come forward. For victims to go through that exam and then have the kit sit on the shelf is in- furiating. It sends the message that it didn’t happen. And we miss a chance to stop future attacks.” With diligence, cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York not only will test all rape kits, but successfully prosecute more rapists. “Our job is to keep monitoring,” explains Sarah Tofte, the lead re- searcher on rape kits at Human Rights Watch. “We want to see rape investigations improved, not only more kits being tested.” —NINA BOUTSIKARIS www.feminist.org