Pennsylvania auditor general blames state for backlog on rape kits
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania has done a poor job of informing local law enforcement agencies about new requirements to report numbers of untested rape kits, the state’s auditor general asserted Wednesday.
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said that confusing information from the state Department of Health and other agencies may have contributed to incomplete reporting of a testing backlog that critics have warned could stifle sex assault investigations.
“This inadequate communication contributed to a low participation rate by law enforcement agencies, which in turn caused an under-counting of kits awaiting testing,” the auditor general said in a Capitol news conference.
A 2015 law required law enforcement agencies to give the Department of Health an initial count of sexual assault cases within its jurisdiction for which evidence had not been submitted to a laboratory and laboratories to report how many kits had not been analyzed. The agencies and laboratories also had to begin annually reporting how many kits were “backlogged,” meaning they had been awaiting testing for a year or longer.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2016/09/07/Pa-auditor-Eugene-DePasquale-blames-rape-kit-backlog-on-confusing-information-from-state/stories/201609070181