Fort Worth police working to clear backlog of rape kits
Right now, there's a major backlog of rape kits at the Fort Worth Police Department's Crime Lab. It's something Police Chief Neil Noakes has been working to fix, calling this completely unacceptable.
At a city work session this week, he gave a progress report on the backlog of rape kits at the department's Crime Lab. Right now, there are just over 700 overdue kits. That's down from almost 900 about a month ago.
30 detectives have been making calls to each victim with a backlogged kit to provide updates and notification of any delays.
The Office of Police Oversight Monitor is overseeing and monitoring progress.
"I hope we can take actions to make sure that we know that women are valued in the city when we call for help," Fort Worth City Councilwoman Gyna Bivens said.
The Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center offers support to survivors of sexual assault. Its CEO said when it comes to the backlog of rape kits, survivors can be impacted in multiple ways.
"For survivors, it could communicate that this feels like a lack of priority," Amy Jones said.
"Then on a practical level, it just means that what is already a very long process to move this through the criminal justice system is even longer."
At this week's meeting, Bivens asked if the backlog has compromised the judicial path of any of the cases.
"Our understanding is no in our conversations with the district attorney's office," Noakes said.
Noakes said the main reason for the delays has been staffing. Fort Worth PD is increasing crime lab salaries and working to hire additional forensic scientists.
Additionally, they're also getting assistance from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office. Due to technical issues, it can only help with new cases.
Looking ahead, there will be weekly meetings with the city's legal department and the Office of Police Oversight Monitor on progress.