US: Los Angeles Needs Plan to Test Rape Evidence
29 Oct 2008 22:42:06 GMT
Source: Human Rights Watch
(New York, October 29, 2008) – The approval of 16 additional Los Angeles Police Department crime lab positions today by the City Council is only one step in addressing the backlog of 7,300 cases in which rape evidence has not been tested, Human Rights Watch said. The city needs to prepare and implement a more comprehensive plan to address the problem of untested "rape kits," the physical evidence, including DNA, collected after a sexual assault.
"The rape-kit backlog is not simply a crime-lab capacity problem," said Sarah Tofte, researcher with the US Program at Human Rights Watch. "The city needs a plan to improve the entire process of investigating and prosecuting rape cases. That is what will be meaningful to victims."
