Jump to content

Thousands of untested rape kits collect dust in police storage


Recommended Posts

Posted

Prosecutor leads effort to test long-abandoned rape kits, brings justice to victims


Wayne County, Mich., Prosecutor Kym Worthy has seen her share of grisly crime, but even she was shocked by a discovery in 2009 at a former police storage warehouse. There, stacks of dusty boxes were found on the shelves of the warehouse. The boxes contained thousands of untested rape kits, some decades old.
“What we were potentially looking at, at that time, was over 10,000 rape kits, representing over 10,000 cases where women had reported, whose lives and what had happened to them was sitting on a shelf and nobody cared. I was shocked, and I think I was kind of stunned -- and not too much stuns me,” Worthy told Kate Snow in an interview that aired Friday on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams.
Worthy and her team would ultimately discover 11,303 untested kits. Rape kits are what hospitals use to collect DNA evidence from a victim in hopes that police can test it and identify a rapist.  Victims have to undergo a thorough exam that can take hours. The DNA evidence is often the most important evidence used to convict in a rape case.
“To know that we had all of these potential victims sitting out there, all of them, mostly women, and nothing had been done, was just truly appalling,” Worthy said.
She is spearheading the fight to correct the injustice. Worthy said that what’s happening in her city is happening across the country.  From Chicago to Los Angeles to Houston, cities are grappling with thousands of untested rape kits.  Through a national grant, Worthy is attempting to set a protocol for how other states tackle backlogged rape kits.

 

If you search online for "untested rape kits" you'll discover that it is a frequent occurrence which happens in many different places.

 

It's hardly surprising since investigating real crimes, which involve actual victims, takes effort and resources while imposing fines, raiding businesses, and confiscating property takes less effort and raises revenue for the State.

Posted

Wow, this is pretty horrifying, both in its content and the lack of surprise I feel by reading it. How awful for the victims to have not only had to endure the assault, but also to endure the invasive process of this exam, and to have it all be for naught. I totally agree with you that it is much easier (as things stand) to pump money into branches that steal instead of actually try to solve or prevent crime. 

Posted

 

Prosecutor leads effort to test long-abandoned rape kits, brings justice to victims

Wayne County, Mich., Prosecutor Kym Worthy has seen her share of grisly crime, but even she was shocked by a discovery in 2009 at a former police storage warehouse. There, stacks of dusty boxes were found on the shelves of the warehouse. The boxes contained thousands of untested rape kits, some decades old.

“What we were potentially looking at, at that time, was over 10,000 rape kits, representing over 10,000 cases where women had reported, whose lives and what had happened to them was sitting on a shelf and nobody cared. I was shocked, and I think I was kind of stunned -- and not too much stuns me,” Worthy told Kate Snow in an interview that aired Friday on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams.

Worthy and her team would ultimately discover 11,303 untested kits. Rape kits are what hospitals use to collect DNA evidence from a victim in hopes that police can test it and identify a rapist.  Victims have to undergo a thorough exam that can take hours. The DNA evidence is often the most important evidence used to convict in a rape case.

“To know that we had all of these potential victims sitting out there, all of them, mostly women, and nothing had been done, was just truly appalling,” Worthy said.

She is spearheading the fight to correct the injustice. Worthy said that what’s happening in her city is happening across the country.  From Chicago to Los Angeles to Houston, cities are grappling with thousands of untested rape kits.  Through a national grant, Worthy is attempting to set a protocol for how other states tackle backlogged rape kits.

If you search online for "untested rape kits" you'll discover that it is a frequent occurrence which happens in many different places.

It's hardly surprising since investigating real crimes, which involve actual victims, takes effort and resources while imposing fines, raiding businesses, and confiscating property takes less effort and raises revenue for the State.

 

What's odd is the idea expressed by the media that most murders are solved. I'm totally naive on crime statistics so I don't know if it's true. Is it true that most murders are solved or are the police nearly useless? 

Posted

 

Prosecutor leads effort to test long-abandoned rape kits, brings justice to victims

Wayne County, Mich., Prosecutor Kym Worthy has seen her share of grisly crime, but even she was shocked by a discovery in 2009 at a former police storage warehouse. There, stacks of dusty boxes were found on the shelves of the warehouse. The boxes contained thousands of untested rape kits, some decades old.

“What we were potentially looking at, at that time, was over 10,000 rape kits, representing over 10,000 cases where women had reported, whose lives and what had happened to them was sitting on a shelf and nobody cared. I was shocked, and I think I was kind of stunned -- and not too much stuns me,” Worthy told Kate Snow in an interview that aired Friday on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams.

Worthy and her team would ultimately discover 11,303 untested kits. Rape kits are what hospitals use to collect DNA evidence from a victim in hopes that police can test it and identify a rapist.  Victims have to undergo a thorough exam that can take hours. The DNA evidence is often the most important evidence used to convict in a rape case.

“To know that we had all of these potential victims sitting out there, all of them, mostly women, and nothing had been done, was just truly appalling,” Worthy said.

She is spearheading the fight to correct the injustice. Worthy said that what’s happening in her city is happening across the country.  From Chicago to Los Angeles to Houston, cities are grappling with thousands of untested rape kits.  Through a national grant, Worthy is attempting to set a protocol for how other states tackle backlogged rape kits.

If you search online for "untested rape kits" you'll discover that it is a frequent occurrence which happens in many different places.

It's hardly surprising since investigating real crimes, which involve actual victims, takes effort and resources while imposing fines, raiding businesses, and confiscating property takes less effort and raises revenue for the State.

 

You mean the television show "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" doesn't reflect real world policing in the area of sex crimes?????

[/scarcasm]

  • 2 years later...
Posted

Thousands of rape kits left untested despite federal pledge, critics blame DOJ

 

An untold number of rape cases -- by some estimates, in the hundreds of thousands -- remain unsolved because the rape kits used to collect critical evidence sit untested and gathering dust in police departments across America, despite $1 billion in taxpayer money approved to clear the massive backlog.

. . .

A comprehensive investigation by USA Today and its media partners uncovered at least 70,000 neglected kits in more than 1,000 police agencies. A state-by-state review suggests those numbers are on the conservative side, with 34 states reportedly admitting they have no idea of the number of untested kits.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.