[continued from previous message]   
      
   But it's not just police. Grady Hospital says it has nearly 1500 untested rape   
   kits in storage. It says 70 percent of those were never picked up by police.   
   The others were stored when victims decided they didn't want to prosecute.   
      
   "Some of them from Grady were even children," Holcomb said. "It's wrong. It   
   needs to be addressed."   
      
   Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said his office has met with Grady   
   officials to discuss the kits being stored at the hospital. The hospital has   
   now given the district attorney's office permission to transport about half of   
   the kits to the    
   Georgia Bureau of Investigation for testing. As of July 16, about 100 kits   
   have been taken to the GBI for testing.   
      
   Howard said his office and the hospital are working towards a final resolution   
   of the remaining kits.   
      
   Holcomb believes every kit should be tested – not to identify the victim –   
   but to track the offenders.   
      
   "There are high rates of repeat offense for those who are not caught," Holcomb   
   said. "My sense is -- my very strong sense -- is we would find similar DNA   
   samples among some of the kits that are out there."   
      
   Holcomb points to other cities that have recently made a commitment to clear   
   their backlogs, including Houston; Cleveland, Oh. and Tacoma, Wash.   
      
   Cobb and Gwinnett police say they're working to clear their backlog.   
      
   The GBI acknowledges there's been a shift in thinking about untested sexual   
   assault kits in Georgia this year. It says it's the only forensic lab in the   
   state which does the testing.   
      
   With new attention being focused on the rape kit backlog, efforts are being   
   mounted to tackle the problem.   
      
   President Obama's fiscal year 2015 budget proposed the creation of the Sexual   
   Assault Kit Initiative, which secured $41 million to help state, local and   
   tribal law enforcement and prosecutors' offices take action to reduce the   
   backlog.   
      
   In June, the U.S. House approved included $45 million in the proposed fiscal   
   year 2016 spending bill to address the backlog.   
      
   Many state legislatures have proposed or passed legislation requiring sexual   
   assault kit audits or mandatory submission guidelines, according to   
   EndTheBacklog.   
      
   In states where action has been taken, results have been seen, according to   
   USA Today's investigation.   
      
   In Colorado, more than 150 cold hits have been found since the Bureau of   
   Investigation began requiring local police to submit sexual assault kits for   
   testing. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's effort to collect and test the   
   kits has resulted in 2,285    
   Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) hits as of November 2014. Testing in the   
   Cleveland, Ohio area has linked more than 200 alleged serial rapists to 600   
   assaults, according to USA Today's investigation.   
      
   An effort to reduce the number of untested kits in Jacksonville, Fla. began   
   last year. Before their remediation effort began, the Jacksonville Sheriff's   
   Office had not tested 1,943 kits -- the fourth highest number of untested kits   
   in the country. They'   
   ve now tested 380 of those kits and had 32 DNA hits in the national database.   
   The state attorney has now asked for a $2 million federal grant to try and   
   clear all of their untested kits.   
      
   Still, there is much more to be done.   
      
   On July 16, TEGNA Media broadcast affiliates came together to raise attention   
   to the issue. Thousands of tweets using#testthekits helped spread the word.   
   Please continue to raise awareness by using the hashtag #testthekits.   
      
   https://www.11alive.com/article/news/nation-now/testthekits-thou   
   ands-of-rape-kits-go-untested/130090140   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)