The California Attorney General’s Office issued a 2020, audit of untested sexual assault kits in each law enforcement agency’s possession statewide. The Oakland Police Department completed the State’s audit and wants to assure our community that we are devoted to pursuing investigations of cases involving sexual violence.
Since 2006, our Special Victims Section reviewed all sexual violence cases and the Crime Lab has appropriately tested all sexual assault kit evidence, well within the 120-day statutory limit set by the state. Most of the untested kits have been connected to cases that have already been adjudicated, unfounded, or the victim did not want the kit tested or refused to prosecute.
It should be noted in 2017, the State changed the law so there is no statute of limitations for charging most sexual assaults, previously it was seven years. All untested sexual assault cases reported to the Attorney General in this audit were collected before 2006 and have passed the statute of limitations. Nonetheless, this Department will determine whether any cases will require analytical testing to be done and will continue to work hard to redress the audit results. The California Attorney General’s Office announced a new grant to help with the submission and testing of sexual assault evidence. The Oakland Police Department will apply for the grant funding.