Alameda County takes action to clear rape kit backlog

ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- Alameda County is taking action to clear a backlog of rape kits that contain untested DNA evidence from dozens of cases.

The county has a backlog of almost 2,000 kits; 100 of them, from Berkeley and Hayward, are being sent to a private lab in Virginia.

Money for the testing is being provided by a grant from Natasha's Justice Project, a New York group advocating that all rape kits get processed. Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley tells the I-Team the testing will solve more crimes.

"What we really are anxious about is getting those profiles identified. Getting them profiled and tested and then getting it the national database so that we can start solving some of these crimes and get some of these perpetrators off the street," said O'Malley.

In May, an I-Team investigation led to an audit of the San Francisco Police Department. Last week, the SFPD announced it would send out more than 700 unopened rape kits to be tested.