2020 FOIA Request
FOIA Documents
Jurisdiction Type
City
Response
Untested Kits Discovered
94
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 Santa Barbara Police Department provided data mostly from 2002-2020, with few data points from before 2002. The Department collected 396 SAKs, of which 302 were analyzed, 94 were not analyzed, and 133 were destroyed. In total, the Department has 94 backlogged kits. The PD did not provide reasons as to why 92 kits were left untested. Since 2012, all kits have been analyzed. Since 2019, no kits have been destroyed. The number of SAKs received increased over the years, from two kits in 2002 to the highest number of 39 in 2016, and to 26 in 2020. The Department started testing all the kits in 2012, two years before the 2014 testing timelines and victims’ rights bill.
Regarding the reasons untested SAKs were not sent to lab, the SBPD stated that “Sexual assault kits purged prior to the 2018 DANY grant were not sent to lab for testing since we no longer had them in our possession. The sexual assault kits in our possession that were not sent to the lab for testing under the 2018 DANY grant did not meet the criteria of the grant such as unreported, restricted or anonymous kits.”
Regarding unprocessed kits at storage, the SBPD reported that “Number of unprocessed sexual assault kits currently in storage, 12. These 12 sexual assault kits were received prior to 2013 when the RADS program was not yet in effect and did not meet the criteria of the 2018 DANY grant.” Based on these, the 12 kits in their storage are pre-2013 and not covered by DANY.
Regarding the reasons untested SAKs were not sent to lab, the SBPD stated that “Sexual assault kits purged prior to the 2018 DANY grant were not sent to lab for testing since we no longer had them in our possession. The sexual assault kits in our possession that were not sent to the lab for testing under the 2018 DANY grant did not meet the criteria of the grant such as unreported, restricted or anonymous kits.”
Regarding unprocessed kits at storage, the SBPD reported that “Number of unprocessed sexual assault kits currently in storage, 12. These 12 sexual assault kits were received prior to 2013 when the RADS program was not yet in effect and did not meet the criteria of the 2018 DANY grant.” Based on these, the 12 kits in their storage are pre-2013 and not covered by DANY.
More Accountability Targets in California
Bakersfield, CAConcord, CACorona, CAFremont, CAFresno, CAFullerton, CAGarden Grove, CAGlendale, CAHayward, CALong Beach, CAOrange, CAOxnard, CAPasadena, CAPomona, CARedding, CASacramento, CASalinas, CASan Bernardino, CASan Diego, CASan Jose, 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.