Bondi: Thousands Of Rape Kits Untested

September 10, 2015

Attorney General Pam Bondi put added pressure Wednesday on lawmakers to increase funding for crime labs as she detailed a massive backlog of untested rape kits across the state.

“Those need to be tested because, hidden in those estimated thousands of untested rape kits, we have the potential to solve cold cases and lock up sexual predators and make Florida the safest place to live and raise a family,” Bondi said during a news conference at The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.

Bondi’s news conference came as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is expected to request an additional $35 million in funding during the 2016 legislative session, including $7.76 million to raise the base salaries of people working in crime labs.

Rep. Janet Adkins, a Fernandina Beach Republican who attended Bondi’s news conference, said she is working on legislation that would establish standards related to when local agencies submit the test kits to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

“When a victim of sexual assault has the very intrusive process of having DNA collected, they have a reasonable expectation that that DNA be tested,” Adkins said.

Bondi, a former Hillsborough County prosecutor, said there is a priority in testing, with homicide cases first and sexual-assault cases second.

Leon County Sheriff’s Capt. Steven Harrelson said DNA evidence is important, as many criminals don’t remain in a single location.

“Having their DNA in the system allows us to go ahead and take these crimes that we don’t have any evidence but DNA … once the DNA gets put into the system, we’re able to solve it at that point,” Harrelson said.

In August, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s DNA/Biology labs completed testing requests in an average of 107 days. But as more local agencies submit untested kits, the turnaround time is expected to grow, agency spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said in an email.

The proposed pay increases — a $10,000 increase to the annual starting pay of crime-lab analysts and a $12,000 boost to the base pay for senior crime-lab analysts — are intended to make the agency more competitive with local law enforcement throughout Florida and the Southeast United States to help keep turnover rates down, agency Commissioner Rick Swearingen told Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet on Aug. 5.

Over the past six years, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has seen 127 crime-lab analysts leave.

The agency currently is funded for 193 crime-lab analysts and 69 senior analyst positions. The base pay for an analyst is $40,948 a year. A senior analyst starts at $43,507.

The increased demand at the crime labs is also in part boosted by an increase in requests from local agencies to investigate cases in which local police officers fire their weapons.

In the recently completed 2014-2015 budget year, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement opened 63 officer-involved shooting cases at other agencies, up from 48 a year earlier. The department started 29 such investigations in the 2010-2011 budget year, 52 in 2011-2012 and 67 the following year.

The Legislature this year didn’t back the agency’s request for $1.87 million to fill 14 full-time positions to assist in investigations stemming from police being involved in shootings. Lawmakers, however, set aside $300,000 for an ongoing study to determine the needs of the crime labs, including the impact of the untested rape kits.

In addition to asking for money for the state crime labs, Bondi said the state may also look at using private labs to test the kits.

“We want to get the sufficient funding to have everything produced, because we feel we can increase arrests and convictions probably in the thousands, not only in Florida, but throughout the country.” Bondi said. “We can’t create standards without having the ability to carry those out.”

by Jim Turner with contribution from Tom Urban, The News Service of Florida

Comments

6 Responses to “Bondi: Thousands Of Rape Kits Untested”

  1. Jimmie on September 14th, 2015 7:38 am

    All of this must be seen in context of the process of criminal justice. Perpertrators have a right to a speedy trial. Any lawyer worth his salt can exploit this hold up to get cases thrown out that may never be looked at again or even worse, the degradation of the dna in this holding time could be ineffective or argued ineffective as a legal defense. There is a Pandora’s box worth of things that this backlog opens up. Potentially this could negate all crimes waiting for the resolution to the processing. Shameful. It is almost worse than not having the ability to test because it will create definitive legal outcomes that will help exonerate many guilty people.

  2. barbara agerton on September 11th, 2015 7:46 am

    if it were men being raped, I think this would not be going on.
    Of course we cant get the money, it is lining the pockets of our “leaders: cough.cough,choke,choke, they need to put their kids through College, and make payments on their Sailboat.
    We as tax payers should stop paying taxes since our money is not going to fund this.
    Womens lives matter, it seems we always have to fight for our rights.
    Lucky “they”even allowed us to vote, if you know what I mean.
    This is a very legitimate issue.
    I am telling you womens issues are always put on the back burner, it is truly a Mans World, and we are fighting for our rights constantly,.From our pay to serving in the Military.

  3. chillywilly on September 10th, 2015 9:47 pm

    Welcome to Gov Rick Scotts World, budget cuts and no money to
    Help victims of rape and solve crime. Gov Scott to busy spending
    1.3 million dollars of our tax money to settle lawsuits against him
    For violating Florida Sunshine laws for open government. Approves
    2 million dollars for a sea wall around a golf course in south Florida.
    Such a circus in Tallahassee but this is the will of the people
    So Sad.

  4. Truth on September 10th, 2015 5:26 pm

    This is her second term and the problem certainly didn’t happen overnight. Sounds like we need someone in the position who can get the job done; not just a pretty face talking about what needs to be done. Actions speak louder than words Pam, fix it before 2018 or we the voters will.

  5. Bill on September 10th, 2015 3:38 pm

    Wow, 107 days for the avg turn-around time for a rape kit to be resolved. Maybe I watch too many crime shows, but that seems really long. Don’t know anything about the process, but would really like to know the national avg.

  6. Jane on September 10th, 2015 3:21 am

    It isn’t just rape kits that are untested….there is a huge backlog of cases with untested evidence due to lack of funding, equipment and personel to to do the testing.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News