OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – An absence of manpower and a few latest legal guidelines are inflicting a backlog of rape kits within the state that have to be processed.
Based on an article from The Frontier, it takes OSBI about 300 days to course of rape kits now.
A 2018 audit discovered greater than 7,000 untested rape kits. A few of them are a long time outdated. Now, companies try to course of them.
In 2019, Oklahoma handed a regulation giving companies 20 days to submit rape kits for testing.
Whereas Oklahoma Metropolis and Tulsa police course of their very own, OSBI handles kits from the remainder of the state, and people are including up.
Nobody from OSBI was out there for an interview Thursday, however the company just lately instructed The Frontier {that a} lack of manpower makes issues troublesome.
“They acknowledge how vital rape kits are to an investigation and to victims, they usually actually wish to clear this backlog too, however they’re so stretched skinny with assets,” The Frontier reporter Kassie McClung stated.
The YWCA says the wait time may be troublesome for survivors.
“It may very well be very irritating for a sexual assault survivor that went by means of the method of getting that forensic proof collected from their physique and actually anticipating that lead to a extra well timed vogue,” Amanda Kemp with YWCA OKC stated.
Tulsa Police Division officers say some outdated rape kits go untested for causes like a scarcity of legal prices or uncooperative victims.
The division has about 3,000 untested kits.
“It isn’t that we did not take into consideration these and misplaced these, in that investigative course of the choice was made,” Lt. Darin Ehrenrich with the Tulsa Police Division stated.
He says it might take a month to course of excessive precedence instances, like if there is a serial rape suspect.
For decrease precedence instances, the place there may very well be an uncooperative sufferer, outcomes might take a yr to get again.
Oklahoma Metropolis police say it takes lower than a month to course of new rape kits.
For the remaining ones, the precedence system is identical as Tulsa’s.
Investigators in Oklahoma Metropolis nonetheless have a thousand untested kits to go, and police say serving to survivors is crucial.
“The tip aim is to current the very best case we will and deal with them,” Deputy Chief Jason Clifton stated.
In case you are experiencing home violence or sexual assault, yow will discover assets right here.
