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 Pasadena Police Department provided data from 2010-2020, with very few data points from before 2010. The PD collected 483 kits after 2010, of which 393 were sent to the lab (33 do not have data available to their testing status), 90 were not sent to the lab, and 46 were destroyed. We do not know if the destroyed kits were tested or not. 2011 was the year the highest number of kit destruction occurred. The PD reported no destroyed kits after 2018.
Out of the 90 untested kits, 8 were from outside agencies, 3 were unfounded kits, and 17 were not tested for unknown reasons, and the remaining 64 kits were untested for other reasons. Most of the unsubmitted kits were collected in 2015 and before; Similar to the data from Corona Police Department, the implementation of the 2014 testing timelines and victims’ rights bill (AB1517) might have led to more kit submission and less destruction in Pasadena after 2014.
Out of the 90 untested kits, 8 were from outside agencies, 3 were unfounded kits, and 17 were not tested for unknown reasons, and the remaining 64 kits were untested for other reasons. Most of the unsubmitted kits were collected in 2015 and before; Similar to the data from Corona Police Department, the implementation of the 2014 testing timelines and victims’ rights bill (AB1517) might have led to more kit submission and less destruction in Pasadena after 2014.
More Accountability Targets in California
Bakersfield, CAConcord, CACorona, CAFremont, CAFresno, CAFullerton, CAGarden Grove, CAGlendale, CAHayward, CALong Beach, CAOrange, CAOxnard, 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.