Two DNA tracking databases received California Attorney General Kamala Harris’ support last week. Both are backed through legislation. The first bill, AB 1848 by Assemblymember David Chiu, D-San Francisco, would require all agencies to use a second tracking system in cases of sexual assault. The second bill, SB 1079 by Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, will require statewide use of the CODIS Hit Outcome Project database, which helps law enforcement confidentially share DNA results on known subjects, nationwide.
Attorney General Harris said of the two bills that, “DNA evidence is a tool that provides law enforcement with critical evidence to bring justice to sexual assault victims. By taking full advantage of the state’s existing forensic tracking technologies, these bills will bolster and modernize law enforcement efforts to solve sexual assault crimes.”
AB 1848’s tracking system, called the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Tracking (SAFE-T) tool, is a product of the California Department of Justice, and allows law enforcement agencies to log and track the rape kits collected from victims of sexual assault. Additionally, the bills require annual reporting to the state regarding the number of kits collected and, separately, how many were then actually analyzed. In cases where a kit was not tested, the department will be required to provide a reason. SAFE-T was created in 2015 in response to recommendations by the state auditor.
“Survivors of sexual assault who are submitting sexual assault evidence kits aren’t getting the answers they need and deserve,” said Assemblymember Chiu. “To get at the crux of the backlog problem, we need to know how many kits are collected each year, and if they’re not analyzed, we need to know why.”
SB 1079 will require the statewide use of the already-in-use CODIS Hit Outcome Project (“CHOP”) database, in which law enforcement agencies can share matching DNA results when evidence comes back with a positive match to the same known perpetrator of different crimes. CHOP has been in use in California since its creation in 2009. The online database can also be used to assist local agencies in tracking “the progress of a DNA hit once crime scene forensic evidence has been matched against a sample in the national database,” according to a press release from the office of the Attorney General.
Both databases are online, confidential and free to use for any law enforcement agency. “Proper use of a statewide system will mean investigations will be more efficient, repeat offenders will be found in the system and rape kits will be accurately tracked, among other benefits,” said Sen. Glazer.
