WUNRN
Human Rights Watch
USA: LOS ANGELES POLICE FAIL TO USE
FUNDS TO TEST RAPE KITS
Audit
Shows Los Angeles Police Department Rape-Kit Backlog Grows Despite $4
Million in Funding
(Los Angeles, October 20, 2008) -- The Los Angeles Police Department should make it a priority to reduce its huge backlog in testing evidence in rape cases, Human Rights Watch said today after release of an audit that shows the number of untested rape kits continues to grow despite nearly $4 million in federal grants the LAPD has received for that purpose.
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The
federal money was part of a federal program intended to reduce a huge backlog
in testing "rape kits," the physical evidence, including DNA,
collected after a sexual assault. The audit, conducted by Los Angeles City
Controller Laura Chick, shows the backlog has continued to grow by 700 to 900
cases per year, from 3,332 in 2003 to 7,370 as of October 1, 2008. The audit
also revealed that the LAPD is failing to comply with a California state law
requiring it to notify rape victims whose kits were not opened within two years
of their collection, which accounts for over 5,000 of the rape kits in the
backlog.
"Why add to the suffering of rape victims by making them wait years to
investigate and prosecute their cases -- or letting a prosecution go forward
without this evidence?" said Sarah Tofte, a US Program researcher at Human
Rights Watch who is researching the rape-kit backlog in Los Angeles and around
the country. "The department needs to use its own budget and any future
grants to make sure the job gets done."
Timely testing of rape kits
can be critical to bringing justice to sexual assault victims. It is often
difficult to solve or prosecute a rape case effectively without this forensic
evidence. Furthermore, under California law, there is no statute of limitations
for bringing a case if the rape kit is tested within two years. But if it is
not tested in that time frame, the statute of limitations is 10 years.
"I want to thank Human Rights Watch for effectively pushing this issue
into the forefront of the public arena," said Los Angeles City Controller
Laura Chick. "Now the leadership of the City of Los Angeles must give this
issue the focus, funding, and priority to end the backlog once and for
all."
The audit says that the LAPD has not effectively used federal Forensic DNA
Backlog Reduction Grant Program awards (also known as the Debbie Smith grant --
named after a rape victim whose case was affected by a backlog) over the past
four years, to reduce its backlog of over 7,000 untested rape kits currently
sitting in police storage.
The controller noted that as a penalty for "poor planning and
oversight" of the grant awards, the federal government reduced the fiscal
year 2008 grant to Los Angeles by more than half. The report also found that
the LAPD has never made a formal budget request to the City Council to deal
with the rape-kit backlog.
DNA technology is one of law enforcement’s best forensic tools -- it can
provide a match with an unknown suspect, confirm the identity of a known
suspect, affirm the details of a victim’s report, and exonerate innocent
suspects. Under California law, the LAPD is required to notify victims if their
rape kits remain unopened within two years of the crime. But according to
Controller Chick’s audit, the LAPD was unaware of the law and currently does
not notify victims when their kits have not been tested.
Human Rights Watch urges the LAPD to adopt a comprehensive plan to eliminate
the backlog, including by:
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