Testing Justice: Rape Kit Backlog in Los Angeles City and County

Los Angeles County has the largest known rape kit backlog in the United States. At least 12,669 untested sexual assault kits ("rape kits")-which potentially contain DNA and other evidence collected from rape victims' bodies and clothes immediately after the crime-are sitting in police storage facilities in the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and 47 independent police departments in Los Angeles County. The untested rape kits in Los Angeles County represent lost justice for the victims who reported their rape to the police, and consented to the four-to-six hour rape kit collection process.