Learning from Houston's Action-Research Project on unsubmitted sexual assault kits - NIJ Publications Update

Through the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, NIJ has made available the following final technical report (this report is the result of an NIJ-funded project but was not published by the U.S. Department of Justice):

Title: Unsubmitted Sexual Assault Kits in Houston, TX: Case Characteristics, Forensic Testing Results, and the Investigation of CODIS Hits, Final Report (pdf, 66 pages)
Authors: William Wells, Ph.D.; Bradley Campbell, Ph.D.; Cortney Franklin, Ph.D.
Abstract:

Sexual Assault Kits (SAKs) contain potentially valuable evidence that can be used during criminal investigations and when prosecuting suspects for sex crimes. The value of pieces of evidence in a SAK can be unlocked when submitted to and tested by a crime lab.

The discovery of thousands of SAKs in police property storage facilities across the country has been cause for concern. In the months and years immediately following high-profile discoveries of untested SAKs, there was little understanding about how widespread this issue was, how the problem developed, what it would take to respond to the problem, and what would result if these kits were tested.

The Houston Action-Research Project sought to understand the factors that produced the volume of unsubmitted SAKs, the way forensic evidence is used during criminal investigations and prosecutions of sexual assaults, and what stakeholders should expect when large numbers of previously unsubmitted SAKs get tested.

This study produced new insights into the issue and helped shaped multiple reforms in the city of Houston. One component of the project measured the testing and investigation outcomes in a sample of sexual assault cases after kits were tested. The primary purpose of this report is to describe key characteristics of the sample, including the testing and investigation results, but the report also provides an overview of the Houston project and many of the reforms that were implemented.

These results provide basic, baseline information, albeit from a single jurisdiction, about what can be expected. The project has provided an opportunity for other jurisdictions to learn from the experiences reported in Houston. As other jurisdictions receive funding to address their untested SAKs, they can learn from jurisdictions that have already started working on this problem.

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