More than 13,400 rape kits untested, state says - Polidicks

Source: [URL]http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-rape-kit-testing-state-report-20160104-story.html[/URL] [QUOTE]More than 13,400 rape kits, including some that could prove critical in the prosecution of sexual assaults, remain untested and sitting on the shelves in Florida police and sheriff's departments, according to a statewide survey released Monday. Of those, more than 9,400 kits containing possible DNA evidence should be submitted for analysis but have not been, according to the findings of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.[/QUOTE]

Whyyy?? How hard is this to do?!

[QUOTE=reedbo;49488802]Whyyy?? How hard is this to do?![/QUOTE] According to google [QUOTE]A rape kit backlog starts for several reasons. One reason is lack of resources. On average, it costs between $1,000 and $1,500 to test one rape kit. As crime labs have grappled with limited capacity and state and local law enforcement budgets have tightened, untested kits have piled up across the country.[/QUOTE] [editline]8th January 2016[/editline] It's a monetary issue

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;49488877]According to google [editline]8th January 2016[/editline] It's a monetary issue[/QUOTE] What the hell is the point of a rape kit, then?

[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;49489545]What the hell is the point of a rape kit, then?[/QUOTE] To test for DNA, of course money is the biggest winner always.

[QUOTE=reedbo;49488802]Whyyy?? How hard is this to do?![/QUOTE] Well this isn't like CSI. Most departments and offices do not have dedicated crime labs. So instead they have to pay to have testing done, which costs a lot of money because of the chain of custody, type of transport, time and equipment it takes to test, and most importantly having an expert do it because they're often required to testify in court. Not only that imagine all these departments and offices sending shit in to one lab, the backlog gets quick.

[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;49489545]What the hell is the point of a rape kit, then?[/QUOTE] well unless you think the position of forensic analyst should be an unpaid position, [B]you will have to pay money for these kinds of services[/B] [editline]8th January 2016[/editline] So thanks to google, it shows that there's 8 forensic labs in Florida. Now, I don't know how they would divide up the work load, or if that's even done at all, I don't know how to tell which labs might specialize in doing them(I highly suspect there are very few specialist labs) but with just 8 places that can possibly handle it, you can easily see how it would be both expensive, and logistically difficult, to deal with.

Does the DNA evidence expire? Concerning, if so.

[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;49489545]What the hell is the point of a rape kit, then?[/QUOTE] A rape kit doesn't do any testing itself. It's DNA storage and retrieval more or less.

[QUOTE=Talishmar;49491972]Does the DNA evidence expire? Concerning, if so.[/QUOTE] They can last for a long time. In the Military we have a system where you can have a "rape kit" done and put into cold storage until you decide if you want to prosecute or not. The problem with rape kits though is that they're expensive to test and they only establish presence of the victim/suspect. Once the alleged suspect says "Yeah! We had sex?" there's no point to test the kit (unless there were injuries documented but in my experience most sexual assault exams don't produce any visible injuries)

I would definitely like to see a breakdown of the $1-1.5K costs of testing these.

[QUOTE=wickedplayer494;49492256]I would definitely like to see a breakdown of the $1-1.5K costs of testing these.[/QUOTE] Mostly the costs for the actual staff who are being paid to actually test them. Its gonna be shit like doctors in a lab. On top of the time it takes. Even things like a school drug test, if they send it to a lab, the price goes from that $20 from a CVS, to like $300. The only staff who can work on these things are also the only ones educated in doing so, its a pretty niche thing it seems.

[QUOTE=Talishmar;49491972]Does the DNA evidence expire? Concerning, if so.[/QUOTE] How much does the storage cost? Must be alot.

[QUOTE=Rangergxi;49494842]How much does the storage cost? Must be alot.[/QUOTE] I'm sure its just a dusty old store room with a broom and a colour TV.