Kimberly Murga Director of Laboratory Services Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department 03/16/2018

Transcription

1 Kimberly Murga Director of Laboratory Services Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department 03/16/2018

2 NV has identified ~7,682 untested sexual assault kits collected * A regularly convened Sexual Assault Kit Working Group has been established through the NV AG s Office Ongoing initiatives: developing a statewide Victim Notification Protocol, working on a statewide mechanism to notify victims, investigative, and prosecution efforts for sexual assault kits, creating a statewide sexual assault kit tracking system The Nevada Statewide Sexual Assault Kit Working Group meets quarterly

3 Two different groups of sex assault kits: 1) Backlogged kits collected between Will discuss first 2) Recent kits collected between 2015-present Will discuss second NV legislation recently passed related to these kits: Assembly Bill 97 which went into effect October 1, 2017

4 Nevada Attorney General's Office University of Nevada Las Vegas Rape Crisis Center of Las Vegas Henderson Police Department Douglas County Sheriff s Office Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Forensic Lab Nevada Legislative Assembly Clark County District Attorney's Office Reno Police Department Washoe County Sheriff s Office Forensic Lab Lyon County Sheriff s Office Washoe County District Attorney s Office Nevada Attorney General s Domestic Violence Division Center for Forensic Nursing Excellence Agencies in RED are participants in the Sex Assault Initiative Grant

5 Elected Officials AG s Office and NV Legislative Assembly Victim Advocates private agencies, public agencies, NV AG s Office Forensic DNA Laboratories in NV (north and south) Law Enforcement Officers/Sex Assault Detectives from several NV agencies Prosecutors from Northern and Southern Nevada Forensic Nurse Practitioners/Sex Assault Nurse Examiners

6 According to a Count* from the NV AG s Office December 2015, Nevada has 7,682 untested sex assault kits: Northern Nevada: 1,168 Southern Nevada: 6,514 5,600 from the LVMPD SAKs from outside jurisdictions that will be overseen by LVMPD s DNA Lab * Numbers could change (increase/decrease)

7 6,514 SAKs from southern Nevada to be tested by Spring 2019 Most kits are being outsourced to a private DNA Laboratory in Virginia LVMPD is shipping DNA kits in 1,000+-batch increments LVMPD receives results from ~ SAKs per month (numbers vary due to outsourcing lab commitments)

8 DA s Office New York LVMPD Grant Funding to test ~2,970 LVMPD SAKs 3 Year grant: October 2015 September 2018 Forensic Lab will complete all testing and close this grant on time

9 Bureau of Justice Administration Sex Assault Kit Initiative Grant Grant runs for 3 years, October 2015 September Agency Partnership and includes funding for DNA testing of kits, overtime, travel, investigative travel, expert witness fees: 1) NV AG s Office 2) Henderson Police Department 3) Douglas County Sheriff s Office 4) University of Nevada Las Vegas 5) The Rape Crisis Center Las Vegas 6) The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Funding for testing ~1,300 sex assault kits

10 Settlement Funds from the AG s Office Funding to test ~2,230 sex assault kits Funding will available through December 2019 Funding is for DNA testing only SAKs from other southern Nevada agencies such as North Las Vegas, the Medical Examiner s Office, UNLV, Lincoln County, Nye County, and Esmerelda County will be outsourced with these funds

11 FBI-NIJ Sexual Assault Kit Partnership National Institute of Justice DNA Backlog Reduction Grant Funds DA s Office New York Grant Funds: Bureau of Justice Administration Sex Assault Kit Initiative funds NV Attorney General s Office Settlement Funds

12 As of March 2018: Total Kits in southern Nevada: 6,473 Number of kits sent out for testing: 4,747 Sex Assault Kits Completed: 3,404 (53%) CODIS Entries: 745 CODIS Hits: 292 (39%) Investigation Outcome: to be provided by Sgt. Shon Comiskey Project is ongoing and DNA testing will be completed by Spring 2019

13 Associated with sex assault kits collected 2015-present Assembly Bill 97 went into effect October 1, 2017 States sex assault kits must be sent to the forensic lab within 30 days of collection 2 full service Forensic Labs (have DNA capabilities) in the state LVMPD: serves Lincoln, Esmerelda, Nye and Clark Counties Washoe County Sheriff s Office: serves all other Nevada Counties

14 Sex assault kits must be tested and eligible DNA profiles entered into CODIS within 120 days Bill was passed with a 1-time funding appropriation of $2.7 Million for the LVMPD Funding to hire 3 Forensic Laboratory Technicians to assist in testing sex assault kits (candidates are currently in backgrounds and will be hired by July 1, 2019) Funding to test 1,496 kits Funding to purchase DNA reagents needed by the LVMPD for testing Funds sunset June 30, 2019 unless more funds are allocated in 2019 Legislative Session

15 1,636 sex assault kits have been collected in southern Nevada Jan 2015 to the present 562 sex assaults kits have been tested 1,074 sex assault kits are untested Once 3 Forensic Lab Technicians are hired and trained, DNA testing capacity will increase We are hoping to identify continued funding through the state so we can sustain the 3 forensic laboratory technicians beyond June 2019 Recent sex assault kits continue to be outsourced and tested in house and all kits waiting for testing should be completed by June 2019

16 Of the562 recent sex assault kits completed 169 DNA profiles have been entered into CODIS 60 CODIS hits (36%) Combined totals for ALL sex assault kits in southern Nevada: 8,379 kits have been collected 3,764 have been tested (45%) 906 CODIS entries have been made 349 CODIS hits (39%) All untested kits should be completed by June 2019

17