Missouri AG ships 300 sexual assault kits from KCPD for testing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has had 300 untested sexual assault kits shipped out from the Kansas City Police Department for testing.

The shipment and a report come following a second inventory of Missouri kits as part of the SAFE Kit Initiative. The inventory is required by a second Bureau of Justice Assistance grant.

“One of my first actions as attorney general was to launch the SAFE Kit Initiative to clear the backlog of untested kits across the state of Missouri. Since then, thanks to the dedication and hard work of Judge M. Keithley Williams and her team, the SAFE Kit Initiative has made major strides in working towards that goal,” said AG Schmitt. “My Office will continue to work to ensure that we honor the courage of victims who came forward to report these heinous crimes by bringing offenders out of the shadows and off of the streets.”

The inventory indexed kits taken between April 30, 2018 and April 16, 2020. It also indexed those previously tested or partially tested from Jan. 1, 1998 until now. “The inventory indexed 12,182 ‘in scope’ kits from 599 law enforcement agencies and 126 health care providers,” a press release from the AG’s office said.

“The breakdown of SAFE kit by type in law enforcement agencies is 1,408 untested, reported kits; 656 untested, unreported kits; 6,234 partially tested kits and 3,643 fully tested kits,” the press release continues. “The breakdown of SAFE kit type in hospitals is 128 untested, reported kits and 113 untested, unreported kits.”

“It is the Office’s policy and nationwide policy that untested, unreported kits are not tested in order to respect the victim’s privacy,” it adds. “Current kits are being handled by the Missouri State Highway Patrol lab.”

The fact that 300 kits were shipped from the KCPD for testing is “not reflected in the inventory report, as the inventory report was finalized prior to this morning’s shipping event.”