JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Alaska lawmakers have added $2.75 million into the state’s capital budget to fund the testing of rape kits.
The funding boost this week aims to make a dent in the backlog of kits by sending the untested DNA evidence from sexual assault cases over the past few decades to outside labs for examination, the Juneau Empire reported Thursday.
Police departments from across the state have more than 3,400 untested kits, according to a report last year by the state Department of Public Safety. About 92 percent of the kits are from seven police agencies, which include the departments in Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks.
The kits contain possible physical evidence taken from victims or suspects.
The new funding will help get the kits tested, but it will take time to get through the backlog, said Randi Breager, a criminal justice planner at the state crime lab.
“We’re talking about 30 years’ worth of an issue that has built up,” Breager said. “It’s not something that’s going to be resolved in six months or a year.”
The kits will be sent to out-of-state labs as Alaska’s crime lab does not have the staff or capacity to handle both current cases and the backlog, Breager said.
Testing the kits may be delayered further as the private labs are handling a surge of kits from other states also grappling with backlogs, Breager said.
“It’ll be months and months before they’ll even be able to accept our kits for analysis,” Breager said.
Legislators have also approved a bill that requires the state to report the number of untested kits. It also requires training for police in how to manage sexual assault and domestic violence cases.
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Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, http://www.juneauempire.com
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