In Washington, D.C., under current law, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is only required to collect and deliver sexual assault kits to the Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS) if an assault has been reported to MPD. That leaves a huge gap for all the survivors that choose not to report—or at least not to report yet.
These “anonymous kits” are then at greater risk of getting lost, damaged or destroyed. With no where to go, these kits are generally stored on an ad hoc basis by the D.C. Forensic Nurse Examiners, regional hospitals, or even another jurisdiction.
Even for survivors who do report, the law states the kits only have to be stored for up to three years. Thanks to advancements in DNA technology, tools like M-Vac, and forensic genetic genealogy, we’ve repeatedly seen how cold cases can be solved decades years later if the original DNA evidence is available.
This past summer, Councilmember Charles Allen introduced legislation to require the District and DFS to preserve all sexual assault kits indefinitely, including the anonymous ones. The Bill was introduced on September 19 during a public hearing, but support was not overwhelming.
In addition to requiring the storage of anonymous rape kits, Bill 25-0348 “Ensuring Safe Forensic Evidence Handling for Sexual Assault Survivors Amendment Act of 2023,” also requires DFS to develop and implement a protocol for receiving and storing the kits. This includes establishing a process for being notified when an anonymous kit is available, receiving them from hospitals or other jurisdictions through the mail or by hand delivery, alerting survivors about their kits’ retention, documenting the chain of custody, and maintaining anonymity of the victim.
“By requiring that DFS preserve kits pending a report to the police, the bill empowers survivors to choose if and when their case enters the criminal justice system, and expands reporting requirements to ensure anonymous kits and other medical forensic evidence are, in fact, properly stored by the District government,” said Allen.
In the months since Allen introduced his bill, one of the hospitals that willingly stores DC rape kits said they may run out of room by December 2023, making the bill’s timing all the more imperative.
However, in the public hearing notes, the council said, “We have technical concerns with several aspects of this bill that may have unintended consequences, and we have concerns about the implications of storing this type of evidence at the Department of Forensic Sciences.” DFS has had extreme credibility issues in the past, even losing accreditation as a forensic laboratory.
Additionally, during the hearing, Lindsey Appiah, DC's Deputy Mayor for Justice and Public Safety, said the Mayor's Office does not support the bill and expressed concern about the cost of storage.
"If we're talking about vastly expanding the capacity at the cost of millions, that is certainly a discussion we can have, but that is the reality. It would be irresponsible of us to say we support this bill as currently written when we know that neither agency has the capacity to effectuate it," said Appiah.
Allen immediately questioned Appiah about the “millions” it would take to store anonymous kits.
"The folks who actually do this already say we would have at an absolute maximum 150 'shoeboxes' [roughly the size of a sexual assault kit] per year. It would cost millions and millions of dollars to store 150 shoeboxes?,” Allen asked.
Still, Allen said he hopes to work with the Mayor’s office toward a solution.
“This isn't a bureaucratic piece of legislation. This is about helping catch rapists, helping hold accountable sexual violence," Allen told WUSA9.