2020 FOIA Request
FOIA Documents
Jurisdiction Type
City
Response
Untested Kits Discovered
427
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?
Our partners at Goodwin submitted an open records request to the City of Long Beach on November 2, 2020. On July 29, 2021, the City confirmed receipt of the request. On October 8, 2021, the City provided policy memorandums on evidence destruction, three lists of kits analyzed and unanalyzed 2009-2020, and another chart for 1994-2009 data.
From 2009-2020, the LBPD collected 1303 kits, of which 1170 were tested and 133 were not. The PD provided a list of reasons to why 96 of these kits were not tested: 29 were unfounded where victim admitted no sexual assault occurred; 25 kits were suspect kits; 19 were VAWA (non-investigatory) kits; 17 were kits involved in homicide cases where no sexual assaults were suspected; 15 were marked “no prosecution desired;” 8 were cases which the District Attorney rejected; 6 were courtesy sexual assault kits for other law enforcement agencies; 6 were cases in which the PD was unable to locate a victim; 4 SAKs were designated as would “not prove corroboration”; 1 was adjudicated; 1 was a City Prosecutor reject; 1 kit was beyond the statute of limitations; and for 1 kit the victim wanted it to be destroyed.
From 1994-2009, the PD collected 540 kits, of which 146 were tested and 396 were not. Testing status of 6 kits is unknown. The PD destroyed 175 kits.
In total, the PD collected 1843 kits from 1994-2020, of which 1316 were tested, 102 were anonymous, 427 were untested for various reasons, testing status of 6 is unknown, and 175 kits were destroyed.
From 2009-2020, the LBPD collected 1303 kits, of which 1170 were tested and 133 were not. The PD provided a list of reasons to why 96 of these kits were not tested: 29 were unfounded where victim admitted no sexual assault occurred; 25 kits were suspect kits; 19 were VAWA (non-investigatory) kits; 17 were kits involved in homicide cases where no sexual assaults were suspected; 15 were marked “no prosecution desired;” 8 were cases which the District Attorney rejected; 6 were courtesy sexual assault kits for other law enforcement agencies; 6 were cases in which the PD was unable to locate a victim; 4 SAKs were designated as would “not prove corroboration”; 1 was adjudicated; 1 was a City Prosecutor reject; 1 kit was beyond the statute of limitations; and for 1 kit the victim wanted it to be destroyed.
From 1994-2009, the PD collected 540 kits, of which 146 were tested and 396 were not. Testing status of 6 kits is unknown. The PD destroyed 175 kits.
In total, the PD collected 1843 kits from 1994-2020, of which 1316 were tested, 102 were anonymous, 427 were untested for various reasons, testing status of 6 is unknown, and 175 kits were destroyed.
2017 FOIA Request
FOIA Documents
Jurisdiction Type
City
Response
Untested Kits Discovered
1657
Why did we send the FOIA?
In 2017, Joyful Heart issued public records requests to numerous law enforcement agencies in California to uncover the number of untested kits in their custody and demonstrate the need to conduct a statewide inventory and mandate the testing of newly collected rape kits. In 2018, California enacted AB3118, sponsored by Joyful Heart and our partners, which required a one time inventory. The same year, Joyful Heart determined that there were 13,615 untested kits based on a national grant funding report and The Accountability Project.
What did we discover?
Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) provided a table showing a total of 1,657 rape kits collected between July 1993 and August 2017. It was not clear how many of these kits were submitted to a lab for testing, and LBPD did not provide clarification. Because of this incomplete information, we have been unable to determine the extent of the backlog in Long Beach.
On January 1, 2016, a law encouraging law enforcement to submit all newly collected rape kits for testing went into effect in California. From the information provided by LBPD, it is not possible to determine whether the agency is following the encouragement of the law.
More Accountability Targets in California
Bakersfield, CAConcord, CACorona, CAFremont, CAFresno, CAFullerton, CAGarden Grove, CAGlendale, CAHayward, 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.