The Assembly unanimously passed a bill that would require statewide tracking of rape kits, a measure intended to cut a backlog of untested evidence and increase transparency for victims. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)
The state Assembly unanimously passed legislation Thursday that would require New Jersey’s attorney general to track rape kits, a measure that’s intended to reduce a backlog of untested evidence and provide more transparency to victims.
New Jersey is one of only about 10 states that don’t track such kits, which contain biological evidence like semen, saliva, and hair taken from assault victims that help investigators identify assailants.
The state received $2 million from the U.S. Department of Justice last year to establish a statewide tracking system, so the bill essentially gives Attorney General Matt Platkin marching orders to do so. The feds also have given New Jersey $3.8 million since 2020 to support the investigation and prosecution of unsolved sexual assaults, according to a Senate budget document.
The bill, which the Senate unanimously passed in October, now heads to the governor’s desk for a signature.
Under the legislation, Platkin would have to establish an online tracking system where victims, law enforcement, and health care facilities or laboratories could track rape kits through the chain of custody, from collection to results.
The size of New Jersey’s rape kit backlog is unclear. The Joyful Heart Foundation, a nonprofit that supports sexual assault survivors and pushes nationally for such tracking, surveyed New Jersey law enforcement agencies and found they had more than 1,200 untested rape kits between 2018 and 2020.
The state auditor found in a 2019 report that state forensic labs had no backlog of kits — but law enforcement agencies did, with 2,834 kits in their possession that they hadn’t submitted for testing for various reasons, including investigators who had no suspects, believed the sexual act was consensual, or discounted victims who had a history of mental illness or had filed a complaint against their spouse or partner.
In March 2023, Platkin ordered a series of changes intended to limit New Jersey law enforcement’s ability to leave rape kits untested. He quadrupled the time agencies must store untested rape kits (from five to 20 years) and limited the circumstances under which agencies can opt not to have evidence tested.
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