This is a major milestone that has been years in the making Enter Article DATE HERE Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam has announced that the Sheriff's Office Forensic Science Division (Crime Lab) has completely eliminated the backlog of DNA evidence kits needing testing. "This is a major milestone that has been years in the making," said Sher...

Austin Police outsourced the DNA testing of the untested rape kits to labs in other states to help tackle the backlog February 22, 2019 AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) - AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Police Department could potentially reopen dozens of rape investigations after getting the results from its backlog of 2,665 untested rape kits. About 35 percent o...

Thanks to a $1.9 million grant from the Department of Justice, investigators in Mobile have found a hit on the DNA database in a rape case that's been cold for almost three decades. December 14, 2018 DOTHAN, Ala.-- Often times, victims of rape may never be able to find justice against their attacker. A rape kit performed on a three-year-old in 1989...

AG Laxalt's Office Secures Additional $1,000,000 in Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Federal Grant Funding, Securing More than $10 million in Total Enter Article DATE HERE CARSON CITY, NV – Yesterday, Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced that 95 percent of Nevada's previously untested sexual assault kits have been sent to labs for t...

The state has hired a sexual-assault cold-case investigator to assist in chipping away at the state's backlog of nearly 3,500 untested rape kits. April 26, 2018 FAIRBANKS — The state has hired a sexual-assault cold-case investigator to assist in chipping away at the state's backlog of nearly 3,500 untested rape kits. Retired Alaska State Trooper Sg...

Some of those sexual assault kits date back nearly 40 years. October 1, 2107 BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - More than 1,000 potentially untested sexual assault kits are on an evidence room shelf here in Kern County. Some of those sexual assault kits date back nearly 40 years. 23ABC's I-Team investigated why there are so many that are poteniatlly untested an...

The Houston Forensic Science Center took over the police department's forensic operations in 2014 and said it eliminated a backlog dating to the 1980s that it inherited from the police department. October 1, 2017 Current and former Houston officials are facing a class action lawsuit from sexual assault victims who said the delay in testing their ra...

By Minnesota law, sexual assault survivors don't have to decide whether they want to go to police when they arrive at a hospital to be examined.The reasoning: It's hard enough to decide, in those traumatic hours, to even come in for an exam. February 18, 2017 By Minnesota law, sexual assault survivors don't have to decide whether they want to go to...

With new money, state chips away at daunting backlog of rape evidence — but can't keep up December 16, 2016 or years, hundreds of white cardboard boxes, each containing biological evidence from an alleged sexual assault, sat untouched inside the massive freezer at the Seattle Police Department's 26,000-square-foot evidence warehouse off Airport Way...

It also requires law enforcement agencies to submit every new evidence kit to a laboratory within 10 days and for it to be tested within 90 days. December 4, 2016 ALBANY — A bill signed into law by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last week aims to unlock evidence needed to solve countless rapes that has been stored in "rape kits," sometimes for years. The new...

According to a September report from the National Institute of Justice on funding for DNA analysis, new methods are now able to yield full DNA profiles collected from old, degraded or otherwise unviable samples. November 14, 2016 In less than a decade, advancements in forensics technology have allowed scientists to "do more with less" using DNA evi...

The state of Alaska has been awarded $1.1 million from the U.S. Department of Justice to process a backlog of rape kits held by the Alaska State Troopers October 4, 2016 The state of Alaska has been awarded $1.1 million from the U.S. Department of Justice to process a backlog of rape kits held by the Alaska State Troopers. Amanda Price, a senior ad...

Our state's leaders must have the fortitude to pursue more than feel-good, no- or low-cost solutions. Our state's citizens must demand compassionate care for victims that rises to the highest-quality medical and forensic standards in anticipation of rigorously pursuing victim wellness while simultaneously laying a meticulous groundwork fo...

"We're removing the subjectivity from the decision-making process." Mary Roberts, Phoenix police assistance chief July 1, 2016 The policy change comes amid mounting pressure from victims' rights advocates, who say uniform testing may lead police to serial assailants. After the kits are tested, the DNA will be entered into the FBI's Combined DNA Ind...

YNN Your News Now, TWEAN d/b/a Your News Now (YNN) Austin, austin.ynn.comBYLINE: John A. SalazarAustin, TXWhen it comes to untested rape kits in Texas, it's not when they'll be tested, but if they can be tested.In Austin alon...

Worcester Telegram & Gazette, telegram.comBYLINE: Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF, to ArticleWorcester, MAWORCESTER — A federal grant for about $230,000 will help the Police Department pay ...

The Detroit News, detroitnews.comBYLINE: Laura BermanLink to ArticleDetroit, MIThe victim calls the police immediately after a sexual assault by a man she says she doesn't know.After the police arrive in the early morning hou...

The Hartford Courant, courant.comBYLINE: JOSH KOVNER, to ArticleHartford, CTThe expert panel wrestling with a huge backlog of untested DNA cases at the state crime lab has for the first time set limits...

The Daily Record, dailyrecordnews.comBYLINE: BARB OWENS staff writerLink to ArticleEllensburg, WASuspected of using obituaries to target homesAn alleged burglar's discarded cigarette butt and statements about using obituaries...

The Arizona Republic, azcentral.comBYLINE: Lindsey Collom and Caitlin McGladeLink to ArticlePinal County, AZDNA evidence from more than 200 sexual-assault cases in Pinal County has been languishing in the Sheriff's Office pro...

The Modesto Bee, modbee.comBYLINE: Rosalio Ahumada, to ArticleModesto, CAAfter less than 90 minutes of deliberation, a jury on Wednesday afternoon convicted Buddy Ray Gary, 60, of murder in the death o...

The Houston Chronicle, chron.comBYLINE: ANITA HASSAN, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, to ArticleHouston, TXMany assault kits untested; little progress made at HPD lab after 5 yearsFive years ago, when the troubl...

Link to ArticleThe Associated Press State & Local WireBYLINE: FRANK ELTMAN, Associated Press Long Island, NYNatasha Alexenko wants more rapists in prison.A sexual assault survivor who waited 15 years to see her assailant brou...

Beaver County Times, Timesonline.com, BYLINE: Kristen DoerschnerLink to ArticleAliquippa, PAThe evidence room at the Aliquippa police station is full from floor to ceiling with items from crime scenes. Aliquippa police chief ...

The Boston Globe, EDITORIAL OPINION; Opinion; Pg. 15BYLINE: Douglas StarrBoston, MAIn reality, many forensic science labs are corrupt or incompetentTHE CONTROVERSY about whether the state's chief medical examiner falsified hi...