2020 FOIA Request
Why did we send the FOIA?
In 2020, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra released a report, announcing at least 13,929 untested kits in the state. Pursuant to AB 3118, the Department of Justice is mandated to collect information from all law enforcement agencies (LEAs), “medical facilities, crime laboratories, and any other facility that maintains, stores, or preserves sexual assault kits.” However, only 149 LEAs and crime labs out of 708 submitted data, and we still do not know the extent of the backlog in California. To shed light on the true extent of the backlog in California, through The Accountability Project, Joyful Heart has issued public records requests to police departments in the 21 largest cities in California that have not participated in the inventory.
What did we discover?
The Hayward Police Department (HPD) provided partial data on received and destroyed kits from 1993 to present. The HPD also provided data on kits that were not submitted to the lab and reasons why from 2015 to present. According to data collected, 3358 kits have been received since 1993, of which 277 kits collected before 2010 were destroyed. We do not know if the destroyed kits were tested before destruction. We also do not know the analysis status for kits collected before 2015.
Given the surprisingly high number of kits collected in Hayward compared to other California jurisdictions we sent a FOIA, we found a major discrepancy in the table provided. The number of kits collected in around 2007-2011 are much higher than in other years, and it might be that certain kits were recorded on the chart multiple times. For instance, on a single day on May 30, 2008, 70 kits were collected, and on May 29, 2008, 96 kits, compared to 48 kits in all of 2020. Although we reached out to the HPD for an explanation of the data discrepancy, we did not receive any response.
Out of the 335 post-2015 kits collected, 18 were not sent to the lab and none was destroyed, leaving 317 presumably tested.
Given the surprisingly high number of kits collected in Hayward compared to other California jurisdictions we sent a FOIA, we found a major discrepancy in the table provided. The number of kits collected in around 2007-2011 are much higher than in other years, and it might be that certain kits were recorded on the chart multiple times. For instance, on a single day on May 30, 2008, 70 kits were collected, and on May 29, 2008, 96 kits, compared to 48 kits in all of 2020. Although we reached out to the HPD for an explanation of the data discrepancy, we did not receive any response.
Out of the 335 post-2015 kits collected, 18 were not sent to the lab and none was destroyed, leaving 317 presumably tested.
More Accountability Targets in California
Bakersfield, CAConcord, CACorona, CAFremont, CAFresno, CAFullerton, CAGarden Grove, CAGlendale, CALong Beach, CAOrange, CAOxnard, CAPasadena, CAPomona, CARedding, CASacramento, CASalinas, CASan Bernardino, CASan Diego, CASan Jose, CASanta Barbara, CASanta Cruz, CASanta Monica, CASanta Rosa, CAShasta County, CASimi Valley, CAStockton, CATorrance, CAVallejo, CAVisalia, CA
Why Accountability?
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.