APD’s New Unit to Tackle Rape Kit Backlog

Testing results from the city's rape kit backlog are finally beginning to come in. On Tuesday, interim Police Chief Brian Manley told the Statesman that the department has created a new sexual assault cold case unit to investigate the untested forensic evidence. Armed with additional and oftentimes crucial DNA evidence, this team will hopefully bring new charges to unclosed rape cases. (Regardless, all the information will be entered into CODIS, a nationwide DNA database.) The new unit will be staffed with four full-time detectives being transferred from other units. This update comes nearly a year after anti-sexual assault advocates began urging the APD to prioritize testing of these kits. Since September, the department has been locating and contracting with forensic labs across the state and country to deplete the backlog. A press conference detailing the unit was called as this paper went to press. Come back next week for more info.