Study: Detroit Multidisciplinary Team Creates Protocols for Responding to Untested Sexual Assault Kits

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Justice, today released a report examining sexual assault kits (SAKs) that had not been submitted to Detroit's crime lab for DNA testing.  The report is the result of an NIJ competitive grant awarded to Wayne County, Mich. in 2011 under NIJ's Strategic Approaches to Sexual Assault Kit Evidence: An Action Research Project solicitation.

The goal of the project was for a multidisciplinary team, comprised of researchers; sexual assault forensic examiners; and representatives from police departments, crime labs, prosecutor's offices, and community-based victim services organization, to determine the extent and cause of unsubmitted SAKs in Detroit and identify effective, sustainable responses that would eliminate the problem in Detroit and be a model for other jurisdictions nationwide.

The report includes a practitioner-friendly guide to how the census of SAKs was performed and a detailed discussion of the statistical results of DNA-testing and CODIS hits in the sample of kits that were the focus of the NIJ study. It also explores the process through which the team created victim-centered, trauma-informed protocols for potential use by other jurisdictions. Learn more at http://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/investigations/sexual-assault/Pages/untested-sexual-assault.aspx.

TITLE:          The Detroit Sexual Assault Kit Action Research Project

AUTHORS:    Rebecca Campbell, Ph.D.

PUBLISHER: National Institute of Justice

WHERE:        Full Report: The Detroit Sexual Assault Kit Action Research Project    https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248680.pdf  

Executive Summary: The Detroit Sexual Assault Kit Action Research Project  https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248681.pdf

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP), headed by Assistant Attorney General Karol V. Mason, provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. OJP has six components: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking. More information about OJP can be found at www.ojp.gov.

SOURCE Office of Justice Programs

Related Links

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov

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