Over 1,200 rape kit deadlines missed by Fort Worth crime lab in 5 years

Fort Worth Rape Kit Testing

Fort Worth - The Fort Worth Police Department confirmed that its crime lab department missed more than 1,200 state deadlines for processing rape kits over the past five years.

In October, FOX 4 reporters discovered that more than 900 rape kits were overdue and had not been processed, with some cases dating back several months.

Under Texas state law, law enforcement agencies must submit evidence to a lab for analysis no later than 30 days after receiving it.

"This is a completely unacceptable situation," Police Chief Neil Noakes said during a press conference addressing the issue. "We understand the urgency of correcting this problem and ensuring it never happens again. We are exploring every available option."

Since Chief Noakes’ statement in October, 226 of the overdue kits have been processed.

Fort Worth Rape Kit Testing

City officials said the cause of the backlog was staffing shortages in the crime lab’s Biology Unit. The unit currently has five vacancies, with only two employees handling sexual assault kit testing. The staffing issues date back to 2019.

Department officials said they recently interviewed 11 certified biologists and are extending job offers to applicants in an effort to speed up the process. The job posting will remain open until all positions are filled to improve the efficiency of rape kit processing once the backlog is cleared.

"The survivors of these crimes deserve that from us, and we will accept no less of ourselves," Noakes said.

The department expects the backlog to be cleared by April 2025.