Should Rape Kit Testing Be Prioritized by Victim–Offender Relationship?

• Author: Steven J. Pierce,Rebecca Campbell,Hannah Feeney,Dhruv B. Sharma,Giannina Fehler‐Cabral
• Published date: 01 May 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12205
• Date: 01 May 2016

RESEARCH ARTICLE

RAPE KIT TESTING

Should Rape Kit Testing Be Prioritized

by Victim–Offender Relationship?

Empirical Comparison of Forensic Testing Outcomes for

Stranger and Nonstranger Sexual Assaults

Rebecca Campbell

Steven J. Pierce

Dhruv B. Sharma

Hannah Feeney

Michigan State University

Giannina Fehler-Cabral

Harder+Company Community Research

Research Summary

This study examined the DNA forensic testing outcomes from 894 previously untested

sexual assault kits (SAKs) from Detroit, Michigan. At issue was how many of these

SAKs would produce DNA profiles eligible for upload into CODIS (Combined DNA

Index System), the national forensic DNA database maintained by the FederalBureau

of Investigation, and then how many would produce CODIS hits (DNA matches) to

other crimes. Fifty-four percent of the SAKs associated with stranger-perpetrated sexual

assaults yielded CODIS-eligible DNA profiles, producing 156 CODIS hits (DNA

matches) and 51 hits matched prior sexual assault offenses in CODIS (i.e., serial

sexual assault hit). Forty percent of the SAKs from nonstranger rapes had CODIS-

eligible profiles, producing 103 CODIS hits and 18 serial sexual assault hits. CODIS

Preparation of this article was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Justice (2011-DN-BX-0001).

The opinions or points of view expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not reflect the

official position of the U.S. Department of Justice. Direct correspondence to Rebecca Campbell, Department

of Psychology, Michigan State University, 127 Psychology Building, 316 Physics Road, East Lansing, MI 48824

(e-mail: rmc@msu.edu).

DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12205 C2016 American Society of Criminology 555

Criminology & Public Policy rVolume 15 rIssue 2

Research Article Rape Kit Testing

entry rates and CODIS hit rates were equivalent between stranger and nonstranger

SAKs; serial sexual assault hit rates were significantly higher for stranger SAKs.

Policy Implications

These results highlight the importance of testing both stranger and nonstranger SAKs

as they have an equivalent likelihood of producing CODIS hits. The findings do not

support policy recommendations that stranger-perpetrated SAKs should have testing

priority over nonstranger SAKs. Prioritizing stranger SAKs may have unintended

negative consequences on the utility of CODIS by limiting the number and type of

eligible DNA profiles that are referenced in the federal DNA database.

When sexual assault victims seek help after an assault, they are advised to have

a medical forensic exam (MFE) and sexual assault kit (SAK) (also termed

a “rape kit”) to preserve physical evidence of the crime (Campbell, 2008;

Department of Justice [DOJ], 2013). The SAK may contain biological specimens that can

be analyzed for DNA, such as semen, blood, and/or saliva collected from vaginal, anal, oral,

and/or body surface swabs. After a SAK has been collected by a health-care professional, law

enforcement personnel are responsible for submitting the rape kit to a forensic laboratory

for DNA testing (DOJ, 2013). If a DNA profile can be extracted, it may be eligible for entry

into CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), the U.S. national forensic DNA database,

which consists of reference DNA profiles from arrestees/convicted offenders and samples

obtained at crime scenes (Butler, 2005; Joblingand Gill, 2004; Stevens, 2001). When a new

DNA profile is entered into CODIS, it is compared with those reference DNA samples,

and if there is a match (termed a “hit”), then law enforcement personnel have a promising

investigative lead, possible corroboration of the offender’s identity, and/or the discovery of

a serial offender through DNA matches across multiple crimes (Butler, 2005, 2010).

Despite the potential utility of DNA evidence to the investigation and prosecution of

sexual assault crimes,1recent social science studies and investigative reporting projects have

indicated that police are not routinely submitting rape kits for forensic testing. Instead, SAKs

are often placed in police property storage unexamined and untested. Landmark studies

by Lovrich and colleagues (2004) and by Strom and Hickman (2010) found that there

may be 200,000+untested SAKs in storage throughout U.S. law enforcement agencies.

Investigative projects by Human Rights Watch (2009, 2010) documented large stockpiles

of untested rape kits in Los Angeles, California, and Illinois, and media reports indicate

1. We acknowledge there are controversies surrounding the accuracy of DNA testing and forensic

laboratory practices (see Murphy, 2015, for a review). In this article, we are focusing on the potential

utility of DNA evidence and we do not suggest that DNA should be the only type of data/evidence used

by police and prosecutors in sexual assault crimes.

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