Alaska law requires that state and local law enforcement agencies collect DNA samples from all people charged with a crime against another person or a felony. But in a lot of cases, that hasn’t happened over the past 25 years.
"rape kits"
Alaska requires that DNA be collected from people arrested for violent crimes. Many police agencies have ignored that.
By failing to collect those DNA samples, law enforcement has left Alaska’s DNA database with crucial gaps, allowing at least one serial rapist to go undetected.
After 3 years and $1.5 million devoted to testing rape kits, Alaska made one new arrest
First of two parts: In the state with the highest rate of sexual assault in the nation, testing the backlog of rape kits may not be enough. Many were from cases where the identity of the suspect was already known, or were opened only to find no usable DNA.
Alaska lawmakers propose new batch of bills ahead of legislative session
The bills include proposals on tribal compact schools, oil and gas taxes, and a constitutional amendment to lower the bar for overriding budget vetoes.
Alaska House passes sweeping crime bill
House Bill 49 would mark the third time the Legislature changed major provisions of the controversial criminal justice law known as Senate Bill 91.
House committees take different approach on crime bills
House members have brought different ideas on addressing crime to the House Judiciary and House Finance committees.
Cumbersome process slows rate for examining sexual assault kits
A recent legislative audit of the state’s Crime Lab said the facility isn’t meeting its target speed for processing sexual assault response team kits, which include biological evidence gathered after an alleged sexual assault. A scientist at the lab explained that the process is complicated.
Lawmakers seek audit of state crime lab
Gardner said she started getting calls from current and former crime lab employees, alleging mismanagement. That pushed her to request an audit on the lab itself.
Lawmakers seek answers on rape kit backlog
When the Legislature’s research department was asked to find how many rape kits sat on shelves waiting to be analyzed, it kept hearing one answer: Unknown.