Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today toured the newly-opened Denver Crime Lab with Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock and highlighted Denver as a national model for reducing the national rape kit backlog. Following the tour, Bennet discussed his bill to help state and local governments process rape kits efficiently and effectively. He was joined by Hancock, Karen Moldovan of the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault and two sexual assault survivors.
“The City of Denver has made a special commitment to victims of sexual assault through its efforts to pursue justice in a quick and meaningful way,” Bennet said. “Those efforts coupled with the new crime lab will help Denver stay on top of its work. The SAFER Act will support Denver’s work and help communities around the country follow the city’s model to reduce backlogs and bring criminals to justice.”
“Denver is a proven leader for ensuring that forensic evidence kits taken as a result of sexual assault are handled as efficiently and effectively as possible so that the victims of these heinous crimes can have the closure that they deserve,” Hancock said. “In fact, since 2004, every sex assault case has been reviewed to determine if existing evidence could assist in a successful prosecution. It’s a model that Senator Bennet and I believe will work in cities across this nation. It is why I’m proud to stand in support of the SAFER Act.”
In May, Bennet introduced the SAFER Act with Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), which would help states and local governments conduct audits of rape kits in law enforcement storage facilities and increase available funds for crime labs to process those kits through testing and capacity building. According to prominent victim’s rights groups, there is a national backlog of at least 400,000 rape kits sitting untested across the country. The City of Denver has conducted its own recent audits of DNA evidence and has proven to be a leader in ensuring that rape kits are handled efficiently and effectively to bring perpetrators of sexual assault to justice, a model which SAFER seeks to support and expand to cities around the nation. The bill would repurpose existing federal funds under the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program to better target reducing the backlog of crime scene DNA evidence such as rape kits and will not add to the deficit.
The 2007 voter-approved Better Denver Bond Program budgeted $36 million for the new Denver Crime Laboratory. The lab opened in June 2012 and currently employs 50 people to complete forensic analysis on cases and other duties. Bennet has supported several federal grant applications to support the work of the crime lab.