ISP News Release: Idaho Sexual Assault Kit Tracking Report for 2017 now available

As required by Idaho Code, Idaho State Police Forensic Services provided the annual Idaho Sexual Assault Kit report to the Idaho Legislature on Friday, January 19, 2018. This report contains statistics related to collection, laboratory processing, and law enforcement storage of sexual assault kits in Idaho in calendar year 2017. This report is now available online.

For more historical data and access to the Idaho sexual assault kit tracking software, click on and find the gray-colored “sexual assault kit tracking” tab.

Some key points:

– A major cultural and systematic change related to sexual assault kit tracking was realized in Idaho in 2017. In January 2017, Idaho became the first state to fully implement a statewide sexual assault kit tracking system. “This tracking system provides more public accountability and transparency, allows victims to see the state taking this issue seriously, provides better direction and tools to law enforcement, provides more resources to the state forensic laboratory and ultimately provides a better criminal justice system,” said Matthew Gamette, Idaho State Police Forensic Services Laboratory System Director. This Idaho Kit Tracking System (IKTS) software used by medical facilities, law enforcement, the forensic laboratory, and prosecutors has become nationally renowned and acclaimed.

– Throughout the state, there were 456 sexual assault kits collected by medical providers, 509 kits submitted to the Idaho State Police Forensic Services lab for testing (due to new and previously un-submitted kits being submitted) and 316 kits were completed by the forensic lab. While great progress was made in 2017 testing previously unsubmitted kits identified in the statewide audit, all sexual assault kits meeting the state statutory requirements will be submitted to either ISPFS or the FBI lab by the end of 2018, according to Gamette. “All indications are that the destruction of sexual assault kits in Idaho has stopped and the new state law is being followed,” he said.

– The report also commends the work of the Idaho Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (ISAKI) working group. ISAKI is a highly productive group of subject matter experts (to include a prosecutor, a judge, medical personnel and others) working together to solve sexual assault kit issues in Idaho. The report concludes that more training and resources are needed for law enforcement and nurses, including a state-wide sexual assault response trainer/coordinator. Gamette said that while new scientists and process improvements are helping, more scientists are needed at the state lab to deal with the astronomical increases in biology/DNA case submissions. The state lab had a 107% increase in DNA submissions in 2017.

###

Posted in Forensic Services