Today@Sam Article
SHSU Contributes To Ending Problem Of Untested SAKs
Oct. 29, 2015
SHSU Media Contact: Julia May
 |
| Over the past four years, SHSU criminal justice professor William Wells has been involved with research efforts in a National Institute of Justice project for Houston to examine the process of sexual assault investigations and prosecutions and help end the problem of untested rape kits. -- Photo by Brian Blalock |
The numbers were discouraging in December 2010—6,663 sexual assault kits covering almost three decades in Houston had been sitting in police property storage without ever being tested.
Sadly, the issue was symptomatic of a trend across the nation, not just in Harris County.
A number of factors had contributed to the unsubmitted kits, but with the advancement of technology and testing procedures, advocacy groups such as the Joyful Heart Foundation, Natasha’s Project and ENDTHEBACKLOG were working hard to elevate awareness about the issue.
The National Institute of Justice—the research, development and evaluation agency of the U. S. Department of Justice—called for “action-research” projects to not only understand why evidence was collected and never given to a crime lab, but to also examine the entire process of sexual assault investigations and prosecutions.
The HPD crime lab responded by assembling a diverse group of stakeholders, comprising law enforcement representatives, prosecutors, crime lab personnel, academic researchers, victim advocates, and medical personnel, to discuss Houston’s situation and determine whether or not the crime lab should apply for the $1.5 million NIJ grant.
Sam Houston State University was invited to participate in the discussion, along with researchers from the University of Texas, because of the longstanding working relationship between the SHSU College of Criminal Justice and HPD, according to Bill Wells, professor of criminal justice and research director for the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas, which is a part of the SHSU Criminal Justice Center.
The stakeholders agreed to proceed with the grant application, and in April 2011, NIJ notified the HPD crime lab that its project, along with Wayne County (Detroit), had been awarded the funding.
“The early phase of the project involved SHSU pretty closely,” Wells said. “As a research team, we were tasked with conducting a lot of background research into the nature of the unsubmitted sexual assault kits and to understand some of the underlying factors that had created the problem. This was critical for knowing what responses to suggest.”
Wells oversaw the work of several SHSU criminal justice graduate students during the summer of 2011. Along with collecting original data, the students interviewed 44 sex crimes investigators, as well as members of the crime lab staff, and conducted surveys with prosecutors.
The SHSU group then produced a series of short reports for the stakeholders so that they could discuss the findings and translate them into actionable reforms.
“It was especially rewarding to see the outcomes for our students,” he said. “Two students published articles about their experiences right away with NIJ and earned their doctorates.”
From the reports, the Houston Police Department took a more victim-centered approach to working on the crimes and hired a justice advocate.
“The justice advocate is critical to the process,” Wells said. “She works with the investigators when they are contacting and engaging with sexual assault victims. When HPD and a victim have not communicated for several years and an investigator is making contact for the first time in a while, the advocate provides support, assistance and stays in touch with the victim throughout the process. The feedback on her work has been very positive.”
Early in the process, the stakeholders realized that once kit testing began, other system groups would experience a “trickle-down” effect of the workload.
“From the beginning, we learned that the situation is not a crime lab problem; it involves the entire criminal justice system,” Wells said. “When the lab testing results become available, there are implications for investigators, prosecutors and community advocates, as well as system advocates.
“Fortunately, because we knew so early that the increased workload would happen, we had looked at cold-case and Combined DNA Index System squads around the country as part of our research,” he said. “We were then able to give HPD some feedback about what other agencies were doing and what had been successful. In response, they created a specialized CODIS squad, just for these cases.”
In addition, a number of new initiatives were implemented, including the launching of new training for sex crime investigators; formation of a designated unit to prosecute crimes with new leads; the development of a formal victim-notification protocol; the establishment of a hotline for victims to contact and obtain updated information about the status of their cases; and the establishment of communication channels for agencies to discuss issues before they become problems.
The SHSU research team has continued its work—measuring the forensic testing results from a sample of 493 cases, the aspects of the original investigation before kit testing, and investigative activities after the testing results were given back to investigators—to determine how many kits have tested positive for DNA and how many have generated a positive hit to a known offender. Eventually, Wells wants to reach further to see how victims react and if new charges get filed.
“With our research, we are going to produce findings that will give the other jurisdictions in the country that are working on this an idea about what kinds of new criminal justice outcomes they can expect,” he said. “Also, it will give them an idea about what reforms they should put in place to ensure that these testing results can have their maximum benefit.”
In addition to responding to requests from other cities wanting input about the Houston group’s experience, a group with representatives from the HPD crime lab, investigators, the Harris County prosecutor’s office, the Houston Area Women’s Center, and Wells presented a workshop this fall to the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Although the action-research project funded by the NIJ grant was recently completed, Wells feels that in many ways it’s actually a beginning.
“All of these locations across the country, which have been troubled by the same problem with evidence processing, now will have numerous resources to help them do good work,” he said. “Houston and Detroit are in the position to share some really valuable lessons. If Sam Houston State University can play a part in that, it’s great. What we are doing is consistent with the mission of this university.”
To see the Houston Forensic Science video about the project click here.
To see the City of Houston announcement about the completion of the testing of the kits click here.
- END -
This page maintained by SHSU's Communications Office:
Director of Content Communications: Emily Binetti
Communications Manager: Mikah Boyd
Telephone: 936.294.1837
Communications Specialist: Campbell Atkins
Telephone: 936.294.2638
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu