City finds funds for DNA tests

Pressured by the city controller and women's groups, Los Angeles city officials pledged on Tuesday to spend $2.5 million a year to clear up a backlog of more than 7,000 rape cases by hiring more specialists to test DNA evidence and outsourcing some work to private labs. Daily News.

"All victims of rape deserve justice. All rapists deserve prison," Police Chief William Bratton said at a City Hall news conference with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Council members to announce the plan.

Villaraigosa, who has made public safety one of his top priorities, said he found extra money to hire the specialists, or criminalists, for the LAPD crime lab by working with unions to save money on health costs.

The City Council today is scheduled to consider the first part of the funding, a nearly $1million program to hire 10 specialists and six support staff members, and authorize $250,000 to pay for work by private labs.