Fort Worth PD working to process hundreds of backlogged sex assault kits
Fort Worth police are working to prioritize processing of hundreds of backlogged sex assault kits.
Sexual assault kits often contain DNA and other samples that have been taken after a person reports a sexual assault to help with the investigation of the crime. To complete the process, a post-test review and entry into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) to compare DNA profiles against known and unknown DNA profiles is required.
While police chief Neil Noakes said the current backlog is due to a need for the post-test review and CODIS entry rather than actual, there are currently 779 already tested kits that need to go through the final process.
"I take full responsibility for the situation we're in right now, and I take full responsibility for correcting this and getting this right," said Noakes.
Noakes cited a range of other issues contributing to the accumulation of kits and delayed processing, including challenges with lack of certified staff available to perform the CODIS review and data entry.
According to Noakes, there are just two certified biologists performing the final review process and five additional vacancies in the Biology Unit at the City of Fort Worth Crime Lab.
"These are not attempts to make excuses. These are not attempts to justify the current situation we're in because there is no justification for the situation that we're in," Chief Noakes added.
According to Texas law, a law enforcement agency must submit evidence to a crime lab for analysis no later than 30 days after the evidence was first received.
Failure to submit the evidence required a detailed explanation and failure report to be sent to the Department of Public Safety.
Issues with sex assault kit backlogs in Texas and around the country are not new.
In 2012, CBS News Texas spoke to Lavinia Masters of Dallas who was raped at the age of 13. She said that her rape kit sat on a shelf for more than two decades before testing linked her case to a serial rapist. By then, a statute of limitations for her case had run out.
Rape kit legislation was introduced in 2023 in the U.S. House of Representatives in a call to improve local and state reporting efforts around the country. If passed, the Rape Kit Backlog Progress Act could improve the process for reporting on sexual assault kit testing nationwide.
"If we're going to have a crime lab in Fort Worth, it will be best in class, period end of story. We have a short timeline to achieve that because we've lost public trust and I understand why," said Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker during a City of Fort Worth Work Session on Tuesday.
To rectify the current backlog, FWPD said it is currently working to add additional vendors for CODIS entry, and will rely on a federal grant to test kits that are currently backlogged.
Further oversight for the Fort Worth Crime Lab will come from the City Manager's Office, Office of the Police Oversight Monitor and FWPD.
