Reducing rape kit backlog

The Los Angeles Police Department has reduced a 10-year backlog of DNA rape kits that need to be examined to 4,423 from more than 55,000, a top official said Monday. Daily News.

Of the remaining rape kits, officials have set aside 402 of them for high priority treatment because they involve assaults by unknown individuals who may still be on the loose.

Deputy Chief Charles Beck of the Detective Bureau told the City Council's Public Safety Committee that he had 50 detectives working 1,000 hours to examine more than 55,000 kits. They narrowed down the number by eliminating kits from cases that had been resolved, where the suspect was already known and where there were duplicate evidence kits.