State Attorney General Roy Cooper says he's dedicated to clearing a backlog of untested rape kits at police and sheriff's departments across the state. The push is tied to North Carolina's new program to expand a DNA database to include all convicted felons, not just the violent ones. That was the law until the Legislature's recent session. The SBI crime lab is understaffed and hasn't been able to keep up for years with the rape kits, which involve creating DNA profiles of evidence collected from victims or crime scenes. Cooper says new technicians are being trained, increasing the staff. Local police departments have been told to send in the ten or 15 most-pressing rape kits. The request includes those kits where a suspect already has been identified or perhaps one involving a crime that appears to be a part of a serial pattern and could be matched to others. Cooper made his comments in Durham on Thursday.
Cooper Pledges To Clear Backlog Of Untested Rape Kits
Local police departments have been told to send in the ten or 15 most-pressing rape kits.
