Audit finds thousands of untested rape kits at police departments
An audit ordered by the legislature last year has revealed 4,265 untested sexual assault evidence kits are stored in police departments and sheriff’s offices across Iowa.
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says the yearlong survey involved 387 law enforcement agencies and found 168 had at least some untested rape kits.
“In the nine largest jurisdictions, 63 percent of those kits are in place. It doesn’t surprise us that the large law enforcement units deal with these issues much more than elsewhere,” Miller said.
The initiative in Iowa is part of a nationwide effort to address a backlog of untested kits. The survey shows the rape kits in Iowa remain untested and in storage for a variety of reasons.
