Public officials and advocates are asking for help to clear a massive backlog of rape kits in Detroit.
More than 11,000 unopened and untested rape kits were found in a Detroit police storage unit in 2009. Since then, at least 2,000 have been tested.
Officials are now launching an unprecedented fundraising effort to help clear the rest of the backlog. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, the Detroit Crime Commission, and the Michigan Women’s Foundation are calling the collaboration Enough SAID (Sexual Assault in Detroit).
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette also helped launch the initiative Tuesday. He says this is not just a Detroit issue.
“These creeps who do this, they may be in other parts of the state,” said Schuette.
“Crime doesn’t stop at 8 Mile Road. It can permeate an area and causes people to feel vulnerable and women to feel vulnerable. We’re ending that in Michigan now.”
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy says officials hope to raise $10 million in private money for the effort. She says it will likely take about five years to clear the entire backlog.
“You have potentially over 11,000 victims, mostly women, that have been denied justice,” said Worthy. “And that affects how they view the criminal justice system, and we want to make sure people do not view the criminal justice system like that.”
Worthy praised Gov. Rick Snyder and the state Legislature for committing $4 million toward testing the rape kits in 2013.
Copyright 2015 Michigan Radio
