A little over a week ago the LA Times did an article on the LAPD and shoddy fingerprint work that led to the prosecution of innocent people. A few days after that was another story involving the incompetence of the LAPD. According to the article, the LAPD’s DNA unit has allowed at least 7,000 sexual assault test kits to go unopened. As if that is not insulting enough to the victims, with at least 217 of those cases (the exact number is unknown at this time) the kits have been left to sit for so long that the 10-year statute of limitations has expired. That means that those assailants cannot be prosecuted.

LAPD Chief William Bratton cites the backlog due to not enough money, and even though the city has approved the addition of 16 criminalists, there is still no funding. As it is now, the division can’t keep up with the current DNA case demand, 80 percent of which are rapes.

Today’s news story is that the LAPD is vowing to begin processing this backlog, starting with the oldest first to try to keep within the statute of limitations. More of this at LA Daily Breeze.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 at 2:14 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.