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Sexual assault

Episode 43: BWC Victim Spotlight – Part 1

August 2016
Series
Body-Worn Cameras
Todd Maxwell, part of the Bureau of Justice Assistances Body-Worn Camera team, interviews Victim Rights Law Center’s Nation Director of Training and Technical Assistance, Jessica Mindlin, to discuss victim’s perspectives around law enforcement using Body-Worn Cameras. Director Mindlin discusses the potential effects on victims along with concerns from the advocacy community that will help law enforcement with their policy development.

Episode 38: A University Spotlight (Rowan University PD, NJ)

July 2016
Series
Body-Worn Cameras
Lauren Gonzalez from BJA’s Body-Worn Camera Team interviews Rowan University Police Department’s Lieutenant Shute to discuss their departments university engagement efforts regarding the development of the department’s body worn camera policy. The agency discusses how BWCs are different on university campuses and the challenges they encountered.

SAKI Solicitation Released

BJA is seeking applications for funding through the FY 2020 National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI).

Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Training and Technical Assistance (TTA)

The SAKI TTA program, led by RTI International and in partnership with a team of subject matter experts, offers expertise and assistance to jurisdictions as they establish widespread, evidence-based, sustainable practices for collecting and processing forensic evidence, investigating and prosecuting sexual assault cases resulting from evidence from previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits, and supporting survivors of sexual assault.

'Looking backwards can tell us a whole lot about moving forward'

Cleveland suspect
Photo credit: Cleveland.com

When Cuyahoga County, Ohio, embarked on the testing of nearly 7,000 backlogged sexual assault kits (SAKs) in early 2013, metaphors from Greek and Roman mythology abounded in the Cleveland media coverage – 'Herculean task' and 'Pandora's box' chief among them.

Five years on, now that the backlog has been largely cleared, the sense of dread associated with those words has been replaced by one of...

DOJ BJA's Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Helps Bring Serial Killer Samuel Little to Justice

The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), an innovative program of the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) which is helping law enforcement agencies nationwide test rape kits and close cold case sexual assaults and homicides, is one of the critical investigative tools that led authorities to believe Samuel Little may be the worst serial killer in American history, by enabling police across...

Over 47,000 Kits Tested Through BJA's Sexual Assault Kit Initiative since 2015

In just 4 years, SAKI has already identified more than 200,000 unsubmitted kits across 54 jurisdictions in 35 states

One untested sexual assault kit can have ramifications far beyond the case for which it was originally collected.

Sexual assault offenders are often serial offenders, either committing multiple sexual assaults or other violent crimes. Testing a sexual assault kit where the perpetrator is known could provide...

National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI)

This initiative helps law enforcement and prosecutors address the challenges associated with unsubmitted sexual assault kits (SAKs) and reduce the number of unsubmitted SAKs in their jurisdictions.