Two North Texas police departments are changing how they handle sexual assault evidence in the wake of an NBC 5 investigation. We found departments across the DFW area failing to process some rape testing kits in the time required by state law. Senior investigative reporter Scott Friedman has the news.
Two North Texas police departments are changing how they handle evidence in sexual assault cases after NBC 5 Investigates began asking questions about state records showing some rape kits were submitted to crime labs later than allowed by state law.
The Irving Police Department told NBC 5 Investigates they initiated an immediate review of some of their own evidence-handling procedures, after NBC 5 Investigates contacted the department about records we obtained from the Texas Department of Public Safety. Those records showed Irving police reported collecting 270 rape test kits in the last five years and that 71 kits were submitted after a state-mandated 30-day deadline.
When we first contacted Irving Police, they said their internal records differed from the data the department had supplied the Texas DPS. They showed that only 209 kits had been collected and that 33 had been submitted late.
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An Irving Police spokesperson told NBC 5 Investigates they notified Chief Derrick Miller of the discrepancies and that he immediately ordered all parties involved to review the department's policies. The department said it is now changing procedures to eliminate any delays in starting testing and that they will pick up evidence kits from hospitals and deliver them immediately to the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences, the regional lab the department uses to process the test kits.
Irving is not the only city where NBC 5 Investigates found that some evidence in sexual assault cases had been shelved beyond the state's deadline.
Just last week, NBC 5 Investigates reported that hundreds of rape testing kits used in investigations in Fort Worth were submitted late or not processed within state-mandated time frames.
"I'm not going to make excuses except to say that, you know, we are trying to do our best, but we need more people to do that," said Sgt. Leah Wagner, with the Fort Worth Police Department.
In Fort Worth, NBC 5 Investigates reported state records showed police submitted evidence kits late more than 750 times in five years. Additional records provided by the state earlier this month showed Fort Worth police had about 900 evidence kits that were "unanalyzed" and were past the 90-day lab testing deadline, meaning that all steps in the process had not been completed on time.
Texas Rep. Victoria Neave Criado, D-Dallas, who helped write the law implementing the deadlines, said even one late kit is unacceptable.
"We have reduced the backlog in Texas by more than 80%, but we still have work to do," Neave Criado said. "We know that there are agencies who are not complying with the current law."
Fort Worth police attribute the backlog to a lack of staff at their own crime lab and difficulty finding enough private labs to help process their kits. While Fort Worth appears to have one of the largest backlogs in the state, records show several local police departments have had difficulty meeting deadlines.
State records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates also showed the Arlington Police Department collected 624 rape kits in five years and that 23 were late getting to the lab. In four cases, Arlington police submitted late explanation forms to the Texas DPS. In one of those forms, Arlington Police wrote: "This is due to the unit having a shortage of detectives and an overwhelming amount of sexual assault cases."
An Arlington police spokesman told NBC 5 Investigates that the investigative unit is again fully staffed. He also said that after receiving our inquiry, the Arlington Police Department conducted a full-scale review and discovered that six additional rape kits had been submitted late, 29 total, though the majority of those kits were submitted within a week of the 30-day deadline. The department said that none of the late kits impacted the outcome of cases.
Arlington police told NBC 5 Investigates that they will now "notify detectives when 20 days have passed to ensure that they have greater awareness of deadlines."
But any delay can be upsetting to victims of sexual assault, including Lavinia Masters.
"It's very frustrating," said Masters.
The Texas state law that set the deadline is called the Lavinia Masters Act. Masters was sexually assaulted as a child in Dallas, but by the time her kit was tested, so much time had passed that prosecutors could not bring charges against her attacker.
Masters said it's disappointing to see the departments still missing deadlines five years after the law she fought for.
"You need to understand that one kit is too many. So it's very frustrating to see that because once you do that, it builds right back up. Because it started with one. It started with one," said Masters.
Fort Worth city leaders told NBC 5 Investigates that police are increasing the salaries for crime lab biologists in an effort to hire more staff and reduce delays. NBC 5 Investigates has learned that there is a shortage of qualified DNA analysts, and staffing crime labs has become a major challenge across the state.
Some Texas lawmakers hope to address that and are discussing creating an apprenticeship program where college students could study forensic science and work at crime labs after graduation, possibly in exchange for discounted tuition or other incentives. We'll follow that discussion when the legislature convenes in January.
If you are a survivor of sexual assault who experienced delays in testing, NBC 5 would like to hear your story. You can contact our investigative team at Investigate@nbcdfw.com
SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIM RESOURCES
If you are a survivor or know of a survivor in need of professional assistance, there are resources available in the community. Here is a list of organizations that may be able to assist:
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN)
- Website: RAINN.org
- Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
- Offers 24/7 confidential support for survivors of sexual assault.
Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA)
- Website: taasa.org
- A resource for sexual assault survivors and advocates, offering legal support, training, and community-based programs.
- Website: texasadvocacyproject.org
Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center (DARCC)
- Website: dallasrapecrisis.org
- Provides advocacy, counseling, and legal assistance for survivors of sexual assault in the Dallas area.
Texas Legal Services Center
- Website: tlsc.org
- Provides pro bono legal services to victims of sexual assault, including help with protective orders and other legal matters.
Victim Support Services - Texas Department of Public Safety
- Website: dps.texas.gov
- Helps crime victims access compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and other costs related to sexual assault.
The Women's Center
- Website: womenscentertc.org
- Hotline: 817-927-2737
- Offers hospital accompaniment for survivors of sexual assault and other violent crimes, counseling, assistance through the criminal justice process and legal services for sexual assault victims.
Safe Horizon
- Website: safehorizon.org
- Hotline: 1-800-621-HOPE (4673)
- Offers crisis counseling, support groups, and legal assistance.
End Rape on Campus (EROC)
- Website: endrapeoncampus.org
- Supports survivors of sexual violence in educational institutions and offers resources for reporting incidents.
National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC)
- Website: victimsofcrime.org
- Provides information and resources for victims of crime, including sexual assault.
Futures Without Violence
- Website: futureswithoutviolence.org
- Offers programs and resources aimed at ending violence against women and children.
The Joyful Heart Foundation
- Website: joyfulheartfoundation.org
- A nonprofit organization offering support, education, and advocacy for survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse.
