Fort Worth police chief tells city council rape kit backlog is number one priority
FORT WORTH, Texas - The Fort Worth police chief says the backlog of its rape kits in the department's crime lab must become a priority. Over 900 of those kits still need to be fully processed.
Councilwoman Gyna Bivens expressed clearly her frustration at Tuesday’s Fort Worth City Council meeting.
"When there’s good news, when there’s bad news, we have to stand up and talk. Be transparent," she said. "So I’m very disappointed in that we have not been transparent."
The issue is a massive backlog of more than 900 unprocessed rape kits.
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"What we’re looking at is a completion date of wrapping up this backlog and doing what should have been done to begin with by April 2025," Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes explained to the council.
A breakdown was blamed on a shortage of specialized staff who process DNA in the police department’s crime lab.
"I just know that if I was a woman, and I was waiting on the results from my rape kit and whatever it showed, I would feel abandoned if that work had not been done for as long as some of these kits have been," Bivens told FOX 4.
Current state law mandates, "A law enforcement agency must submit evidence to the lab for analysis no later than the 30th day after the evidence was received."
The chief says there were discrepancies in March with a federal grant that provides funding to the lab. It highlighted the rape kit backlog.
"Do you know approximately how many cases did we didn’t meet that 30-day mark?" asked Councilwoman Elizabeth Beck.
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"There were hundreds," Noakes admitted.
Bivens has suggested the city enlist the help of the UNT Health Science Center.
"I’m really trying to sound the alarm that this is really not your average problem, and it is a very limited amount of people or entities that we could turn to for help," she said. "I’m just concerned that we, hopefully we haven’t made for negative input on someone’s judicial output, but for us doing our job at city hall."
"What I want everyone to know is right now this is the number one priority for our crime lab for when it comes to those who are entering DNA," said Noakes.