Finally, Thousands of Old Rape-Evidence Kits (in Texas) Are to Be Tested

[The Straight Story]

Thousands of evidence kits collected from rape victims that have sat untested for years in Texas can now be analyzed, thanks to an $11 million budget appropriation earmarked for the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The line-item financing disbursement was passed as part of the state’s biennial budget during the regular 83rd legislative session. It follows the 2011 approval of related legislation filed by Senator Wendy Davis, Democrat of Fort Worth.

Senate Bill 1636 requires that the D.P.S. or a contractor test and keep information on forensic sexual-assault evidence that the department has received from other law enforcement agencies but has not been submitted for analysis, provided financing is available.

S.B. 1636 also requires that when requested, the department compare results from a newly tested rape kit with DNA information in the department’s custody.

The number of untested kits is unclear. Advocacy groups say that about 16,000 kits are sitting on shelves, according to data submitted by 136 law enforcement agencies across the state. But the D.P.S. estimates that the number is closer to 20,000. Department officials say their information comes from various law enforcement agencies, which may use different formulas to determine how many kits they have, thus leading to a discrepancy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/us/finally-thousands-of-old-rape-evidence-kits-are-to-be-tested.html?_r=1&

[Xipe Totec]

1. Are they now Ripe-Evidence Kits?

Have we waited long enough for the evidence to decay?

[niyad]

2. I love the various reasons for not testing the kits, but they left one out: rape victims are not

important enough to bother with.

I wonder exactly how many of these are going to get done any time soon. I seem to recall another state with a similar backlog, bragging about doing something like 400 a YEAR. (and that is the backlog, not including all the new cases).

so, yes, encouraging news. but the fact that thousands of rape kits in one state alone have sat around untested for years speaks to how little women are valued in this country.

[The Straight Story]

3. It would be nice if there was something on a federal level to help out states

With funding:

"It’s estimated that there are 400,000 untested rape kits sitting in police department storage across the country,” Smolyansky said, referring to a Human Rights Watch report from a few years ago. “Some of these kits are 30 years old.”

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=220964


Number of rape kits estimated to be untested nationwide: 180,000.
Number of unsolved rapes of the past five years: 150,070.
Number of untested rape kits Human Rights Watch found last year in Los Angeles alone: 12,669.

Percentage of the 7,974 rape kits Illinois police stored between 1995 and 2009 that were confirmed to have been tested: 20.

http://jezebel.com/5610550/the-shocking-numbers-on-untested-rape-kits

[niyad]

4. but the same thing is true at federal level, rape is not important, women are not important

[The Straight Story]

5. Will see what I can dig up on this:

New federal legislation could reduce number of untested rape kits

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_21305598/new-federal-legislation-could-reduce-number-untested-rape

[The Straight Story]

6. Here is the latest I could find off hand on the bill:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s3250



This bill was passed by Congress on January 2, 2013 but was not enacted before the end of its Congressional session. (It is possible this bill is waiting for the signature of the President.)
Progress
Introduced May 24, 2012
Referred to Committee May 24, 2012
Reported by Committee Sep 20, 2012
Passed Senate Dec 30, 2012
Passed House Jan 02, 2013

[niyad]

8. glad to see some effort being made, but if was not enacted, nothing but "feel-good"

[The Straight Story]

10. Indeed, a damn shame - maybe some news outlet will rattle some chains

But not holding my breath waiting.

[The Straight Story]

7. It was reintroduced, here is updated status:

This bill was assigned to a congressional committee on January 23, 2013, which will consider it before possibly sending it on to the House or Senate as a whole.
Progress
Introduced Jan 23, 2013
Referred to Committee Jan 23, 2013
Reported by Committee ...
Passed Senate ...
Passed House ...
Signed by the President ...
Prognosis

21% chance of getting past committee.
3% chance of being enacted.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s80

[niyad]

9. so, in other words, totally pointless. women simply do not count

[Igel]

11. Often lost in the shuffle.

Houston--not exactly a conservative hotbed--had a large scandal a number of years ago and probably accounts for a large portion of the 16-20 thousand unprocessed rape kits even now.

The lab was simply underfunded. They were swamped with rape kits and didn't have the latest and greatest equipment in the quantities needed. They were understaffed. So at the end of the week the kits that weren't processed were pushed to another freezer to make way for the next batch. This went on for years.

When other cases came in--murder, for instance--they'd be put ahead of rape kits. And more kits would be moved to backup freezers.

In the reporting I read it was pointed out that often the rape kits left untested were somehow flawed. Missing information, chain of custody wasn't always clear, it wasn't clear that the woman wanted to press charges, etc., etc. They should still be tested, just in case there are good data to be obtained and the woman does want to press charges.

When there were scandals about improper testimony or botched lab practices, the lab would be closed for investigations. And no rape kits would be processed. This happened in Houston, sometimes for weeks at a time.

It's not that women don't count. It's just that others also count and the demand for processing and lab facilities was enormous.

[niyad]

12. and by your own words, rape isn't as important as other crimes.

[Lancero]

13. Sadly this is the case.

When resources are scarce, the crimes have to be prioritized.

Crimes that result in the loss of life will always take priority over those that don't.

Edit - And even when resources are available, the newer cases would be investigated first.

[niyad]

14. please note that the post to which I was responding said murder AND OTHER CRIMES

and, as we see on a daily basis, no matter what excuses are given, rape is simply NOT a priority, EVER.
and I am curious to know how anybody knew the UNEXAMINED kits were flawed. seriously, all 20,000 of them? if that is the case, then a whole lot of people screwed up very badly, and, once again, rape isn't taken seriously enough to do their F****** jobs right.

[Lancero]

15. Murder

Was the only one specified so it was the only one I commented about.

The issue with rape is that it's, compared to other cases, a lot harder to pin down. These cases rely more on dna evidence then any other crime - A lot of the times these cases go cold since all the police can really do is run the dna against the national databases and pray that they get a hit.

It's not that rape isn't investigated, it's just that in a lot of cases there isn't a whole lot to investigate.

[niyad]

16. wow, your post is just amazing. the issue with rape is that it is simply not that important, that

women are not that important in this rape culture (and there has been plenty of discussion about said rape culture) but you go right on justifying why it receives such a low priority. every justification you give is simply another example of how unimportant rape victims are in this country.

[Lancero]

17. No justification

Just pointing out the sad facts.

[niyad]

19. the sad fact is that rape is NOT a priority, and all your sad facts point that out. is that really

so difficult to understand?

[Lancero]

20. I understand...

That you are making things up to justify your belief that rape isn't a priority.

As I've said, rape should be investigated. The fact is that their isn't a whole lot of investigative work to be done for a case like this.

You need to cut back on the CSI or whatever variant you prefer - Criminal investigative technology isn't as advanced as the shows make it out to be.

[niyad]

21. another justification, but nice try at turning it around. we are all familiar with the tactic here.

you will have to try a little harder with your patronizing insults, we have heard them all. basically, what you are saying is that the ONLY evidence in a rape is dna, and because of that, we should not expect the police to do their jobs, it is just too hard.

is the stuff you have been spouting here what you would tell a woman in your family or a friend who has been raped? other things are more important, collecting the evidence is too hard, etc., etc?

[Lancero]

24. Turning it around?

Hardly - Your the one trying to convince me that rape isn't a priority and that women aren't important.

As I've said before, and as your ignored whenever I said it, rape should be investigated to the full extent. The fact is that there isn't much that can be investigated. Minus taking the statements of the victim and collecting dna evidence, there isn't a whole lot to be done.

Police will do their jobs. It's just that some crimes have less investigative work that can be done.

And never did I say that collecting evidence is to hard - The police collect whatever evidence in available. Some crimes don't leave a lot to collect though.

[niyad]

26. yes, turning it around. you keep insisting that ONLY dna evidence exists in rape. in that case,

the police had damned well better be getting that evidence processed. not hard to understand, now, is it. these are your own justifications for WHY they aren't doing their job. once again, in small words, if dna is all they have, then they damned well better be processing it, no ******* excuses.

by the way, there is a difference between "your" and "you're". helpful to learn.

[Lancero]

27. Resorting to insults now?

Thats nice - Proves me the better person at any rate.

But since you've decided to throw one, I'll respond in kind.

Learn how to capitalize the first letter in each sentence.

[niyad]

28. see you cannot answer the main point, which is that the police should be doing their damned

jobs. once again, in your own words, if dna is all they have, then they had damned well better be processing that evidence. but, nice evasion.

[Lancero]

29. And you can't read...

Because I've stated, numerous times, that these crimes should be investigated to their fullest.

This includes running the DNA that they collect.

I'm not evading anything - Your just refusing to read my posts, which have already answered your comments, and rehashing the same thing.

[annm4peace]

18. they probably had enough money

to buy military type of uniform equipment. Tazers. Helicopters. Tanks, and even Drones..
'

[niyad]

22. you are making an excellent point.

[niyad]

23. one thing I didn't notice was an indication of the time it will take to process all these back-

logged kits

[niyad]

25. . . .

[Liberal_in_LA]

30. good