State, DA in dispute over cutting-edge DNA database wcvb.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wcvb.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Updated: 3:12 PM EST Feb 19, 2021 Karen Anderson Kevin Rothstein Thousands of rape kits from Massachusetts victims dating back to the year 2000 have never been DNA tested, according to an audit of the backlog hidden from public view until now.The backlog persisted even after advocates and lawmakers thought legislation passed in 2018 was going to address it. The Joyful Heart Foundation, an advocacy group supporting legislation to end the backlog of rape kits, said in a press release that the measure would make Massachusetts a national leader in the movement to end the backlog of untested rape kits. But the language of the legislation unintentionally excluded the vast majority of untested kits from the law s requirements. It s very disheartening. Because it seems to me that the spirit of the law was very clear, said Ilse Knecht, director of policy and advocacy for the Joyful Heart Foundation. It was meant to discover untested rape kits, and get
Thousands of rape kits still untested by state crime lab despite law msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In first 6 months of Massachusetts rape kit tracking system, state saw reduction in time to deliver kit to crime lab
Updated Jan 06, 2021;
In the first six months of using a tracking system to monitor the movement of sexual assault evidence kits from hospitals to crime labs, Massachusetts officials report a reduction in turnaround time for pickups of kits from medical providers and deliveries to the crime lab for testing.
A total of 366 sexual assault evidence kits were entered into the confidential tracking system in Massachusetts during fiscal 2020, though staffing limitations brought on by the COVID pandemic limited the movement of kits in certain instances, according to a report released Tuesday by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.