Feds sending $2.1 million to help Fort Worth police clear backlog of rape kits
Fort Worth is getting a help from the federal government to clear a backlog of hundreds of untested rape kits.
The city, along with Tarrant County and the University of North Texas Health Science Center are getting a $2.1 million federal grant, according to a press release from Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is also getting a $3.2 million grant to deal with that agency’s backlog of rape kits, according to a separate press release from Cornyn.
The senator celebrated the move, noting the importance of DNA evidence to identify culprits and exonerate innocents.
“I am proud of the work we’ve done to reduce the backlog of DNA tests over the years, but I will not rest until every victim and family in Texas has the answers they’re looking for and the justice they deserve,” he said in both press releases.
The Fort Worth Police Department reported Nov. 5 it has a backlog of 708 overdue cases that haven’t fully been entered into a state database used to match DNA from rape kits to offenders.
That’s down from the 969 unprocessed rape kits Chief Neil Noakes reported to the City Council at an Oct. 22 work session.
The city is working with the Tarrant County Medical Examiners Office to process some of the newer rape kits, so the police department can focus on reducing its backlog.
Noakes told the council in October he hoped to clear the backlog by April 2025.
Fort Worth’s crime lab came under scrutiny in October 2020 for a lag in testing rape kits.
A former employee, Trisa Crutcher, filed a 174-page report in with the Texas Forensic Science Commission, alleging falsification of records, a lag in testing child sex abuse cases, and other policy violations that could impact hundreds of criminal prosecutions.
The commission released a 126-page report in 2021 saying the issues didn’t rise to the level of misconduct.
Still, the police department fired former crime lab director Michael Ward in June 2023, citing management issues leading to a lag in cases. Ward told the Star-Telegram in October 2023 that his firing had more to do with internal politics.
This story was originally published November 21, 2024 at 4:40 PM.
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