New developments in the massive backlog of sexual assault evidence in Fort Worth. Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes acknowledged on Monday he was aware a year ago that 0hundreds of rape kits had missed state testing deadlines. Senior investigative reporter Scott Friedman asked that question in a frank and open discussion with the chief.
NBC 5 Investigates has learned sex assault evidence testing delays have affected even more victims than Fort Worth police first acknowledged.
Fort Worth Chief of Police Neil Noakes told NBC 5 Investigates on Monday that his department missed state-mandated deadlines more than 1,200 times over five years.
Those comments came during the chief's first in-depth interview since NBC 5 Investigates reported the testing delays last month.
When we broke the story of the rape kit backlog in October, we had state records showing at that time, Fort Worth police had about 900 rape kits overdue for completion.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
We also had records suggesting that over the past five years, even more kits had not been tested and analyzed within the state's requirement of 90 days.
On Monday, Noakes confirmed the total number was, in fact, higher. He acknowledged that 1,218 times in the last five years, his department failed to process sexual assault evidence in the time state law requires, leaving victims waiting for information.
"It's completely unacceptable. It's ridiculous. There's no reason it should ever be that big. We shouldn't even be talking about one or two, quite frankly," Noakes said. "You're talking over a thousand, over 1,200 cases, they've missed the deadline. It's unacceptable. There's no way to give any excuse that would make that a legitimate number. It's a terrible number."
Noakes said that in recent weeks, the Fort Worth police crime lab has been able to reduce the current backlog to about 600 cases. He said the department is also close to hiring four new DNA analysts to help fill most of the lab's five vacant positions.
The department said vacancies at the crime lab contributed to the backlog.
Noakes told NBC 5 he was aware that hundreds of rape kits were overdue as early as September of 2023, and that he wished he had done more to ensure that the crime lab staff was succeeding in clearing the backlog.
When asked if staff failed to keep him informed of their progress Noakes said, ultimately, he is accountable for the department's failure to meet the deadlines.
"I'm not going to blame them for the information not getting to me. I don't believe anybody was withholding it intentionally, but as the leader of this department, it's my job when I know there's a problem to make sure I'm checking back. If I don't hear back, I can't just assume no news is good news. I've got to make sure I'm engaged, asking the right questions and getting those numbers myself", Noakes said.
Noakes said, that after becoming aware of the problem, he made leadership changes at the lab and felt staff was focused on clearing the backlog. But instead, the backlog grew.
A state record obtained by NBC 5 Investigates shows by December of 2023 Fort Worth Police had 772 rape kits that were overdue and beyond the 90-day deadline. By the time NBC 5 Investigates exposed the problem in October of 2024, the number of overdue kits had grown to 901, according to state records.
Noakes said he is confident that the department can clear its current backlog of more than 600 cases by April of 2025, if not before.
During Monday's interview, the chief also indicated that the future of the Fort Worth Police Crime Lab is also up for consideration in the months ahead. He said he is asking the city to hire a consultant to examine the lab's policies, procedures and staffing.
"Once they have a good idea of where we are and where we could go, should we even have a lab?", Noakes asked.
He's not the first to suggest that the city might shutter the lab.
In the wake of the NBC 5 reporting on the sex assault kit backlog, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said that, going forward, the city should only have its own crime lab if it can be "best in class".
Fort Worth is the only major city in Texas where the police department manages its own crime lab. Many departments rely on regional or state labs, medical examiner's offices, and private labs to help complete forensic casework.
Noakes said Monday that tough questions must be asked in order to ensure the city is best serving crime victims.
"We are absolutely committed, not just to correcting this problem, but making sure going forward we never end up in this situation again", Noakes said.
