Aldermen Call For Answers On Possible Rape Kit Backlog
UPDATE: 1:10 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -A Chicago City Council panel is calling for answers on the large number of untested rape kits and how that's affecting rape victims' cases, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore.
Finance Committee Chairman Alderman Edward Burke says since 2008, Chicago Police have submitted 7,784 rape kits to the state crime lab.
"The police department could not tell us how many had been returned to the police department," Burke said.
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But Sharmili Majmudar, director of Rape Victims Advocates, says it can take a year or more for those test kits to be returned, prolonging victims' torment.
"To get a call a year later, sometimes even more than that, saying, 'Oh by the way, we got results on the kit, can you come in for a lineup?' Can you re-enter the criminal justice process after they have already felt betrayed by the fact that the kit has taken that long, I think is asking a lot of victims."
The aldermen voted to ask Chicago and state police to come before them to explain the backlog and how to eliminate it.
