PCCD Awards Federal Recovery Act Funds to Help State Police Streamline Forensic Rape Kit Processing

HARRISBURG, Pa., June 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency has awarded $162,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to the Pennsylvania State Police for new equipment that will enable crime investigators to process and analyze forensic rape kits in a shorter period of time.

The funding, announced at PCCD's June 8 quarterly meeting, was provided under the federal Recovery Act's STOP Violence Against Women category.

The state police will place the new, specialized equipment at its laboratories in Harrisburg, Greensburg and Lima.

"Our commission is committed to helping our partners in law enforcement and victims of crime," said PCCD Chairman Walter M. Phillips Jr. "These funds will help state police in purchasing equipment needed to process the kits, reduce backlogs, and ultimately lead to swift justice for sexual assault and rape victims."

"One of the goals of the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Forensic Services is to provide high quality, timely assistance to crime victims and to law enforcement across the state," said State Police Commissioner Frank E. Pawlowski. "This grant will enable us to speed up the processing of key evidence in rape and sexual assault cases, with the hope of bringing sexual predators to justice."

The STOP Violence Against Women grant program was created under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. It encourages partnerships between criminal and juvenile justice systems, as well as victim advocacy organizations, and promotes collaboration between municipalities, and community and faith-based organizations to better respond to crime victims' cultural needs and sensitivities.

PCCD works to prevent and reduce crime and respond to the needs of victims by collaborating with state and local agencies and officials, victim service providers, juvenile and criminal justice agencies, community-based organizations and others.

For more information on how federal Recovery Act funding is being invested to benefit Pennsylvanians and their communities, visit www.recovery.pa.gov.

Media contact:

Tara Mead, PCCD; 717-265-8470

Jack Lewis, PSP; 717-783-5556

SOURCE Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency

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