Untested Rape Kits Hid 817 Serial Predators In Detroit

[Deleted]

This article is a month old, but the prosecutions in these cases that aren't past statute are ongoing:

www.newsweek.com/rape-kit-untested-sexual-assault-serial-rapist-detroit-prosecutor-nation-752440

There are a number of things you can take away from this article, but the two I want to highlight are: 1) DNA technology is getting exponentially better every year; and 2) the sheer amount of cases law enforcement agencies deal with. 

Due to crime lab enhancements in Detroit, their local prosecutors were able to clear through their backlog of untested rape kits (going all the way back to 80s) and identified 817 serial rapists in Detroit alone.  This story really puts into perspective how many cases law enforcement agencies investigate.

It's easy to get so wrapped up into a single case (to the point you're posting on forums daily about it, or even writing books about it), that you lose sight of the bigger picture law enforcement agencies have to deal with.  Sometimes posters wonder why evidence in cases where the statute has expired gets tossed after a set amount of time, or why thousands of man hours aren't spent investigating every possible tangential lead (or why law enforcement doesn't actively keep followers of this case up-to-date on every single lead they investigate).  The answer is simple: resources and time are limited.  There are only so many hours in a day.  There's only so much room to store evidence.  There are only so many investigators you can dedicate to a case full-time (and if they spend time investigating lead x, they aren't spending that time investigating lead y).  If somebody has to travel to a different state (or even a different country) to collect DNA, that takes time and money, and that person is unable to do much else for a day or two (or even several weeks).

This is one of the few cases that actually gets a task force of investigators.  More investigative man hours are still being put into this cold case than most new crimes ever get to see. 

This post isn't meant to attempt to diminish the crimes committed by this offender (not by a long-shot), but hopefully to better explain why law enforcement made some of the decisions they made with this case.  With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I personally believe some of those decisions weren't the right ones, but you have to keep in mind that cases don't happen in a tidy vacuum.





 

[nick]

The DNA tech link of an investigation only works if it is submitted for testing LE continues to use money or lack of it as an excuse to not process rape kits. Sacramento Sheriff's Department is still sitting on a ton of unprocessed rape kits they are counting on investigators to key in on serial offenses and ask for processing of those particular cases it has too many flaws and more of a problem when the offender commits attacks in different jurisdictions. In this day and age, there is no excuse for not processing rape kits and will help identify serial offenders even if they commit crimes in different places. I am thinking a law would need to be passed requiring the processing of kits by LE with time restrictions and entering it into CODIS.

[pluckman56]

Agree completely, once again I question Sac's commitment. I guess I shouldn't considering the rapes are all beyond the sol. I saw a tweet where Moonbean Brown committed millions to the cause of testing the backlog. Perhaps some one should put a bug in his ear about SacPd' s reluctance.