Describing and Quantifying How Previously Unsubmitted SAKs Advanced from Testing to Disposition on the Cuyahoga County Sexual Assault Kit Task Force

Lovell, Rachel
Clark, Daniel

2017-08

In this research brief, we detail the process by which previously unsubmitted SAKs advance through four phases—testing, investigation, prosecution, and disposition—on the Cuyahoga County SAK Task Force (Task Force). We describe the key steps in the process, providing statistics on the number of cases that proceed or fail to proceed as well as the reasons why cases fail to proceed. The purpose of this research brief is to aid other jurisdictions that are processing their previously unsubmitted SAKs in visualizing the processing from testing to disposition, collecting performance measures at each step in the process, and establishing comparable statistics across jurisdictions. This will aid in forecasting how many SAKs will likely include DNA hits, how many investigations should be completed, and how many should result in indictments and convictions, which can then be used for allocating resources, informing end-dates, communicating updates and expectations, and, hopefully, helping ensure no new “backlog” develops. Additionally, we have provided statistics in this brief to aid other jurisdictions in knowing what comes after testing.

Sexual violence
Sexual assault kits

Cuyahoga County (Ohio)

Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

http://hdl.handle.net/2186/ksl:2006061445

20 pages