SJPD to retest hundreds of rape kits for possible leads to cold cases

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Hundreds of rape kits in San Jose will be retested this year, with the hope to bring new leads to cold cases.

A $2.5 million federal grant is providing the funding to the San Jose Police Department.

We sat down with legal analyst and former prosecutor Steven Clark.

"These kits provide a treasure trove of information on possible suspects. And many cold cases have been solved because of these DNA information that's now available," Clark said.

San Jose Police tell ABC7 News the way these kits were tested is now considered outdated: "New technology and lab advancements have made vast improvements since initial testing."

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"This doesn't necessarily solve a case, but it points police in the right direction to start asking questions," Clark said.

The grant will also go towards hiring more manpower to track and investigate cases.

"That's why this is so important that you have an analyst, you have detectives working on these kits because at the end of the day, there's going to be a question as to the veracity of this information in court so everything needs to be done by the book," Clark said.

Police couldn't provide an exact number of kits that will be resubmitted for testing but said 900 is a conservative estimate.

The nonprofit YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley offers real time support to survivors who are navigating medical forensic exams.

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"Our advocates are first responders to Valley Medical as well as to Stanford Hospital so the bulk of our work, we're working with survivors from San Jose all the way up through Palo Alto. It's important to note that survivors are guaranteed a confidential advocate to be by their side," YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley CEO Adriana Boroffice said.

Boroffice hopes survivors will be informed through this re-testing process.

"Depending on how long ago the kits were done, it could be years and people could've healed and moved on and it could be a really jarring experience to have that reopened again, and have to move through a lot of those things," Boroffice said.

Clark said it's imperative kits are retested as soon as possible.

"It's important that we recognize that these are not just pieces of evidence, but these are pieces of people's lives," Clark said.