On the Job 

Each month, new progress is being made by my office’s Sexual Assault Kit (SAK) Testing Initiative. As of Aug. 1, 294 law enforcement agencies had submitted 13,908 kits to be tested as part of the initiative. Forensic scientists with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) completed testing on a total of 11,472 kits, resulting in 4,129 hits in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

The success of the initiative is best measured when justice is served and violent offenders are taken off the streets. As of Aug. 1 in Cuyahoga County, more than 515 defendants had been indicted through the SAK testing initiative, strong police work, and diligent prosecutors.

In 2015, researchers at the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education at Case Western Reserve University, at the request of Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty, began to use data from the SAK initiative to try to learn as much as possible about the crime of sexual assault, the offenders, and how to improve law enforcement’s response. The research has reinforced the idea that when SAKs are tested and cases are investigated and prosecuted, there is a potential to greatly reduce the number of future offenses.

While the SAK initiative is strong, my office is taking steps to make it even better through a joint project with Bowling Green State University (BGSU). With funding from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the university and the Ohio Attorney General’s Center for the Future of Forensic Science will conduct the “Use of Statistical Modeling to Optimize Sexual Assault Kit Analysis” project, which will use data mining to develop the most efficient testing process. Our work with BGSU continues to reap benefits for the state. Such partnerships are essential and focus on helping Ohioans by using the best experts, technology, and research, all while saving taxpayers’ dollars. 
 
We must not lose sight of the survivors of sexual assault and need to make sure they receive comprehensive support. In July, we announced that 28 Ohio rape crisis centers had each received a grant of $45,804 from Ohio's Rape Crisis Program Trust Fund, which is administered by my office. In addition, a $142,500 statewide training grant, which is available only to agencies that are federally-recognized statewide sexual assault coalitions, was awarded to the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence.

This issue of Criminal Justice Update shares details about the Case Western University study, the research partnership with BGSU, and the grants for the rape crisis centers. It also looks at a recent rape case in Canton that was brought to a quick resolution in part because of the expedited services of the BCI lab in Richfield.

Through the efforts of law enforcement, prosecutors, and scientists, we are putting away violent criminals and making our communities safer places to live.

Very respectfully yours,
 
Mike DeWine
Ohio Attorney General