2020 FOIA Request
FOIA Documents
Jurisdiction Type
City
Response
Untested Kits Discovered
1547
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 Sacramento Police Department provided data from 2000-2020. In total, the Department collected 6889 SAKs, of which 5342 were analyzed, 1547 were not analyzed, 48 kits await for testing at the lab, and 19 were destroyed. According to the records, six kits collected in 2016 and one kit collected in 2017 are in the testing process under VAWA (non-investigative), whereas three untested kits collected in 2018 and 2019 were out of county kits. The Department did not provide reasons why the majority of the 1547 kits were not tested, as it would require further review and such documents “are exempt from disclosure under the CPRA by the deliberative process privilege.”
2015 FOIA Request
Why did we send the FOIA?
In 2015, Joyful Heart issued public records requests to 22 medium sized jurisdictions for which we did not have any or had very little information about their untested rape kits.
What did we discover?
We reached out to Sacramento County and Sacramento City. Through our efforts, we have learned that the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department (SCSD) submitted 62% of all rape kits received between 2005 and 2015 to the lab for testing. As of January 2016, SCSD reported 456 untested rape kits. Since 2013, SCSD submits all newly collected kits for testing, and they are in the process of submitting previously untested kits to the lab at this time.
Sacramento Police Department (SPD) did not fully respond to our request. SPD stated that they have “no documents responsive” to the total number of kits in their custody, tested or untested. SPD took no additional measures to attempt to provide this information. As such, we were unable to ascertain the number and testing status of rape kits in the custody of SPD.
More Accountability Targets in California
Bakersfield, CAConcord, CACorona, CAFremont, CAFresno, CAFullerton, CAGarden Grove, CAGlendale, CAHayward, CALong Beach, CAOrange, CAOxnard, CAPasadena, CAPomona, CARedding, 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.