By James Drew / The News Tribune
OLYMPIA — The federal government has awarded Washington state nearly $5.3 million in grants to help clear the massive backlog in untested rape kits by the end of 2021.
The funds from the U.S. Department of Justice are in addition to about $10 million that state lawmakers provided in the current two-year operating budget.
“DOJ understands that we cannot leave untested evidence languishing in storage,” said Brian Moran, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, in a written statement. “These funds will help Washington keep up with the scientific advances in DNA that can both identify the guilty and exonerate the innocent.”
The state has a backlog of about 8,000 untested rape kits, said Chris Loftis, spokesman for the State Patrol.
Washington is among several states struggling with backlogs, according to the The Joyful Heart Foundation — an advocacy group that provides support and programs to survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse. The group said the backlogs represent the failure of the criminal justice system to take sexual assault seriously, prioritize the testing of rape kits, protect survivors and hold offenders accountable.
Loftis said the federal grants will help Washington clear the backlog by December 2021.
“Our job is three-fold. We want to catch, prosecute and bring to justice those who offended. We want to bring exoneration and justice to those who have been falsely accused. And then, the number one thing, is we want to be a force for closure, a force for healing, a force for justice in the (victims’) lives, although we are well aware there is no magic wand or process that will remove the pain that has been felt and the harm that has been done,” he said.
The federal grants are:
• $1.8 million to increase the capacity of the State Patrol crime labs, including equipping a new DNA section in the Vancouver crime lab. The State Patrol is remodeling the Vancouver lab with technology that enables a state forensic scientist to complete cases faster.
• $1.5 million for the Attorney General’s office to inventory, test backlogged kits through the State Patrol, train law enforcement and hire additional personnel to support the AG’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative team.
• $1 million for the Attorney General’s office to expand the collection of DNA from offenders and its submission to the national DNA database maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
• $920,951 to the State Patrol to digitize and store about 480,000 case records archived in off-site storage so that they can more easily be accessed for investigation.
A bill signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee in April requires the State Patrol to complete testing of a rape kit within 45 days of receiving it from local law enforcement agencies, starting May 1, 2022.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
