Untested Victim Lab

Untested Victims

Bailey Votto

4/19/16

Margaret Oakes

Paper 4 Draft #2

When the two solutions, sodium chloride (NaCl) and silver nitrate (AgNO3) react, a soluble sodium nitrate (NaNO3) and a precipitate silver chloride (AgCl) form. While this reaction is not a common occurrence for most of us in our daily life and work, it is in a forensic science lab. This chemical reaction is just one of the many techniques used to unveil fingerprints in a crime scene. Unfortunately, fingerprints are not always left or able to be found. In that case, new chemical procedures must take place. In a forensic science lab, the criminologist must have access to a variety of chemicals, and compounds; as well as different specialized machinery.

The process of conducting a rape kit is tedious but can have positive results, like keeping sexual offenders off the streets. If a victim of rape goes to a medical care provider, they are almost immediately examined by a nurse through a lengthy rape kit examination. This procedure usual takes multiple hours, as the nurse must provide special attention for the victim. After an extensive interview of the victim, an examination of the victim’s body begins. Christ Burkey, a PhD student, Tusty Bensel, an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, and Jeffery Walker, a professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, all at the University of Arkansas, collectively wrote a book about the investigation process of sexual offense. They explain the intense process of sexual assault kits. Through “a collection of blood, urine, hair, and any other body secretion samples” that take place, the victim is considered fully scanned (Burkey, Bensel, Walker 54). Once collected DNA along with any other evidence, gets put into the exam, it is sent off to a crime lab. This step in the process is where faults take place resulting in sexual offenders not being charged or ever brought to justice. A practice that should only take a few weeks, ends up taking many months or even longer. If the only evidence for a rape case is DNA evidence and labs are not extracting the DNA from these rape kits when needed to be, it lets

The lack of resources to extract DNA is continuing to effect the justice system. The backlogs of rape kits throughout the United States has become an overwhelming number while the crime labs have been doing very little to compensate for these changes. Not only does the inefficiency of DNA analysis effect rape kits, rapes effect thousands of innocent humans every year. It is an ongoing cycle and very little is being done to stop it. Although hard to help with the rates of crime, specifically rapes, there is something that can be done with bring these sexual offenders to justice. Starting with executing a plan to decrease the number of untested rape kits. “In August 2009, approximately 11,000 sexual assault were found in a Detroit police department storage facility, the vast majority of which had never been tested for DNA evidence” (Campbell, Shaw 151). Unfortunately, Detroit is not the only city in America with thousands of untested rape kits are lined up along shelves in crime labs unknown. Even the labs right here in Greenville, South Carolina are guilty of neglecting kits. Between the years of 2011 and 2014 approximately 63% of rape kits were left untested (Lee). Anna Lee, a writer for Greenville News, explains “[t]he process of collecting evidence for a rape kit is invasive and can take hours. Bodies are picked over, blood is drawn, clothing and underwear bagged.” Although the process may take a longer