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On the way home this evening, I heard an NPR report saying that an audit of LA's police department had revealed that there were over 7,000 rape kits that had been used but had never been tested for DNA evidence. The LA County Sheriff's office has also said they have another 5,000. That's 12,000 kits where the evidence has never been pursued. According to the article, an investigation by Human RIghts Watch indicates that as many as 400,000 rape kits are currently sitting untested around the country.
The worst part of the audit was the revelation that of the initial 7,000 LA kits, 2,000 of them were so old (older than six years) that the statute of limitations had run out -- even if testing the DNA revealed the identity of the attacker, that person can no longer be prosecuted.
Listening, I found myself outraged. All those victims and what they endured, yet the work that might convict their attackers hasn't been done for various reasons: a lack of technicians, budget constraints, the sheer inertia of the system... It's not fair; it's not right. The CSI shows and the various other crime investigation shows feature dazzling feats of scientific forensic sleuthing (and seemingly getting DNA test results in minutes) -- yet that's not the reality. It's not even close. The reality is darker, far slower, and much less certain...
The worst part of the audit was the revelation that of the initial 7,000 LA kits, 2,000 of them were so old (older than six years) that the statute of limitations had run out -- even if testing the DNA revealed the identity of the attacker, that person can no longer be prosecuted.
Listening, I found myself outraged. All those victims and what they endured, yet the work that might convict their attackers hasn't been done for various reasons: a lack of technicians, budget constraints, the sheer inertia of the system... It's not fair; it's not right. The CSI shows and the various other crime investigation shows feature dazzling feats of scientific forensic sleuthing (and seemingly getting DNA test results in minutes) -- yet that's not the reality. It's not even close. The reality is darker, far slower, and much less certain...