Charlotte

Charlotte is one of the cities where we are using public records requests to uncover the number of untested rape kits in police storage. Through our efforts, we have learned that, as of November 2014, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) has a backlog of 1,019 untested kits. To learn more about our process, click here. 

VIEW THE PUBLIC RECORDS RESPONSE

In 2015, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office awarded the CMPD $557,974 in funding to test 885 rape kits. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded the City of Charlotte $1,125,606 to process 300 previously untested kits, investigate and prosecute cases, and re-engage survivors. In 2017, the BJA awarded the City of Charlotte $837,342 to process an additional 600 kits and sustain this work.

In February 2018, the state crime laboratory reported finding 15,160 untested rape kits in law enforcement custody across North Carolina. CMPD reported 499 untested kits in this inventory.

Right now, we do not know the full extent of the national rape kit backlog because few states require law enforcement agencies to count, track, or test rape kits. The Accountability Project aims to bring greater transparency and accountability to rape kit testing practices across the country.