This article also appeared on p. 5–6 of the Spring 2018 print edition.Victim-centered policies being developed by the Alaska Department of Public Safety for processing unsubmitted and untested sexual assault kits collected by Alaska State Troopers are one part of the state’s efforts to tackle more than 3,000 untested kits under grants from the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice.Alaska SAKI /
Why kits weren’t tested /
What’s happening now? /
Reference

Cravez, Pamela

English

ScholarWorks@UA

1Alaska Justice Forum 34(4), Spring 2018, online editionState of Alaska Sexual Assault Evidence KitSexual Assault Kit Initiative: Alaska making progressPamela CravezIn February 2018, Ohio finished testing nearly 14,000 sexual assault kits (SAKs), also known as rape kits, which had previously been un-tested. What began in 2011 with a special initiative from the Ohio Attorney General to address untested kits resulted seven years later in 300 serial offenders linked to 1,125 crimes, mostly rapes, in Ohio. Along the way, policies were developed to submit all rape kits to the crime laboratory for DNA testing, to identify offenders, and ensure that rele-vant DNA would be included in the national database.It is estimated that there may be more than 200,000 untested sexual assault kits through-out the country (Campbell et al., 2017).Initiatives to test these kits have resulted in solving crimes, identifying serial rapists, exonerating the innocent, providing DNA to the national Combined DNA Index Sys-tem (CODIS) for use throughout the country, and establishing policies for future testing of sexual assault kits.In 2015, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) began the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), providing grant support and techni-cal assistance to state and local jurisdictions to support a coordinated, victim-centered approach to both deal with untested sexual assault kits and create sustainable future policies to deal with sexual assault cases.XXAlaska SAKIIn 2016, the Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS) received a $1.1M three-year SAKI grant to identify kits that had not been submitted to the crime lab for testing and, with the assistance of a group of statewide stakeholders/experts, develop victim-cen-tered policies and procedures for processing. A second, $450,000 grant in 2017 supports a prosecutor, cold case investigator, and UAA Justice Center researcher. The Justice Center researcher will look at the correlation be-tween characteristics of unsubmitted cases and case processing decisions with the goal of supporting the creation of data-driven public policies (Monegan, 2017: 3). Unsubmitted and untested sexual assault kits collected by Troopers have been iden-tified. There are 764 unsubmitted kits of which 700 are victim kits and the focus of SAKI. The cases have been digitized, and by the summer of 2018 all kits will have been sent to a private lab out of state for testing.“We are only focusing on kits collected by Troopers,” said Randi Breager, criminal justice planner for the Alaska State Crime Detection Laboratory. Breager is co-site co-ordinator for SAKI with Major Bryan Barlow. “This will serve as a pilot project for law en-forcement statewide,” Breager added.After DPS received SAKI funding, the Alas-ka State Legislature passed SB55, a bill re-quiring a statewide SAK inventory, a plan to address untested kits statewide and a plan to prevent a future backlog.In November 2017, a statewide SAK inven-tory showed a total of 3,484 untested sexual assault kits, including untested DPS kits.  The highest number of kits, 1,823, are held by the Anchorage Police Department.Figure 1. Unsubmitted sexual assault kits by departmentSource:   Monegan, 2017 (Alaska Department of Public Safety)About 94% of sexual assault kits belonged to 7 agencies.Anchorage Police Department53%Alaska State Troopers22%Juneau Police Department6%Fairbanks Police Department5%Nome Police Department2%Ketchikan PoliceDepartment2%North Slope Police Department 2%All others8%Figure 2. Unsubmitted sexual assault kits by typeSource:   Monegan, 2017 (Alaska Department of Public Safety)3,484 previously unsbumitted sexual assault kits were inventoried by 46 law enforcement agencies.Victim2,979Suspect391Anonymous victim114This article also appears in the Spring 2018 print edition.2 Alaska Justice Forum 34(4), Spring 2018Alaska Justice Forum 34(4), Spring 2018, online editionFigures 1 and 2 show the breakdown of un-submitted SAK statewide and how many of them are identified victim kits as compared to offender or anonymous.SAKI and the statewide project required under SB55 are parallel and will complement each other, according to Breager. Develop-ing and implementing policy change is at the heart of both projects. “The expertise of our statewide working group, including a commander of the Anchorage Police Depart-ment, will guide the creation of a template that will be helpful for all,” Breager said.XXWhy kits weren’t testedMost kits in Alaska were not tested be-cause it was determined that DNA evidence was not needed or not necessary for pros-ecution.  This would result if a case were declined for prosecution, rested on an issue of consent, or had already been adjudicated. A kit could also have been collected outside the time frame (Monegan, 2017: 4).Other reasons police may not have sub-mitted a kit for testing could be because an offender had not yet been identified. Prior to the mid-1990s, when the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) was established, police needed to have a reference sample from a suspect for comparison to the crime scene. Even after CODIS, police may not have sub-mitted kits for testing because they did not think it would be useful.Systemic issues such as budget cuts, lack of written policies and protocols for sub-mission, and lack of training have also been cited (Bettinger-Lopez, 2016; Hanson, 2017).XXWhat’s happening now?Alaska changed protocol in January 2018 requiring all newly collected SAKS be sent to the Alaska State Crime Detection Laboratory (SCDL) for testing or storage. If testing is not requested, an explanation will be required in writing.Although there will be ongoing policy and protocol recommendations from Alas-ka SAKI, a final report is not due until June 2019.  Challenges identified in the recent DPS report to the Alaska State Legislature in-clude the availability of resources for system-atizing collection, implementing a tracking system and retention of DNA and evidence throughout the state.Decisions will also need to be made regarding the testing of additional untested kits identified throughout the state and not part of SAKI.  Another question is whether Alaska will require all kits to be tested in the future.Addressing untested kits and developing future protocols is complex.  Through Alaska’s SAKI grant, DPS and its working group of experts and stakeholders are receiving training and assistance in establishing “effective and sustainable practices for collecting and processing forensic evidence, investigating and prosecuting sexual assault cases, and supporting survivors of sexual assault”  (www.sakitta.org).Pamela Cravez is editor of the Alaska Justice Forum.XXReferencesAlaska State Legislature. (2017). Senate Bill 55: Omnibus Crime/Corrections (SB 55). 30th Alaska Legislature. Chapter 13 SLA 17. (introduced 10 Feb 2017; signed into law 22 Jun 2017.) (http://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/30?Root=sb55).Bettinger-Lopez, Carrie. (15 Mar 2016). “The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative: An Important Step toward Ending the Rape Kit Back-log.”  The White House — Obama Archives. (https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/03/15/sexual-assault-kit-initia-tive-important-step-toward-ending-rape-kit-backlog).Campbell, Rebecca; Feeney, Hannah; Fehler-Cabral, Giannina; Shaw, Jessica; & Horsford, Sheena. (2015). “The National Problem of Untested Sexual Assault Kits (SAKs): Scope, Causes, and Future Directions for Research, Policy, and Practice.”  Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 18(4): 363–376 (Oct 2017). (https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838015622436).Hanson, Alan R. (5 Oct 2017). “National Sexu-al Assault Kit Initiative Helps Solve Crimes.” OJP Blog. Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. (https://ojp.gov/ojp-blog/blog-sakiinitiative.htm).Table 1. SAKI Working Group MembersMichelle Collins Crime Lab Forensic Biology Supervisor Cheryl Duda Crime Lab DNA Technical ManagerAngie Ellis North Slope Police Department Forensic Nurse Taylor Winston Office of Victims' Rights Executive DirectorKeeley Olson Standing Together Against Rape Executive DirectorBrad Myrstol UAA Justice Center Director Bill Miller Anchorage Police Department CaptainBryan Barlow Alaska State Troopers Major/Deputy DirectorMichael Henry Alaska State Troopers Sergeant Randi Breager Crime Lab Criminal Justice Planner Barb Amarok Bering Sea Women's Group Executive DirectorDebbie Demientieff Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium — Behavioral Health Special Project CoordinatorJenna Gruenstein Department of Law Assistant District Attorney Meggie Reinholdt Council on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Program Coordinator Allison Hanzawa Department of Public Safety Special Assistant to the CommissionerSuki Miller Office of the Governor Policy Advisor/Building a Safer Alaska CoordinatorPatricia Liss Alaska State Troopers DVSA/SAKI Project Assistant 3Alaska Justice Forum 34(4), Spring 2018, online editionMonegan, Walt (1 Nov 2017). Letter to Pete Kelley, President of the Alaska Senate and Bryce Edgmon, Speaker of the Alaska House, reporting results of inventory of statewide sexual assault kits (SAKs). Alaska Department of Public Safety. (https://dps.alaska.gov/getmedia/8af21701-ab97-42c1-be68-b01c4aae63aa/SAK-Inventory-Re-port-and-Plan-DPS-SB55.pdf;.aspx).SAKI. (2018). “The Sexual Assault Kit Initia-tive.” (website). Retrieved 9 Mar 2018. (https://www.sakitta.org/about/).

Sexual Assault Kit Initiative: Alaska Making Progress

https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/bitstream/11122/8234/1/ajf.344d.saki-initiative.pdf

Sexual Assault Kit Initiative: Alaska Making Progress

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

ScholarWorks@UA