The Kentucky State Police's Forensic Laboratories are receiving a $1.9 million grant for DNA testing in the state's unprocessed sexual assault kits, or 'rape kits', to help decrease the number of backlogged cases.
The New York City's District Attorney (DANY)'s Sexual Assault Kit Backlog Elimination Program is awarding $38 million in grants to 32 jurisdictions in 20 states across the United States. The two-year awards are expected to test an estimated 56,475 rape kits, generating DNA evidence that will help solve cases across the country.
KSP Commissioner Rodney Brewer was pleased to receive word of the grant.
"We now have the resources to address these backlogged rape kits, providing hope to the victims who had the courage to report the assault and undergo an invasive examination," said Brewer.
The grant will fund the outsourcing of up to 3,300 kits and the formation of a task force to focus on policies for the automatic submission of rape kits. The grant runs for two years with 3000 kits outsourced monthly and the resulting perpetrator DNA profiles uploaded into CODIS by the State Police Laboratory.
Tennessee's Bureau of Investigations is also receiving $976,420 from the grant to process some 1,400 sexual assault kits after a 2014 inventory.