New York City

In 1999, New York City had a backlog of nearly 17,000 untested rape kits. All of those untested kits were sent to private labs for testing, and the backlog was cleared by 2003. Ending the backlog cost approximately $12 million and resulted in more than 2,000 matches in the national DNA database and 200 arrests. The city adopted a policy of testing every rape kit booked into evidence, and the arrest rate for rape subsequently jumped from 40 to 70 percent.

For more information about reforms happening in New York City, click here.