CHICAGO — John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, today announced that the city of Chicago will receive $1 million from the Department of Justice to test and track sexual assault kits.
The grant, administered by the Department’s Office of Justice Programs, is part of more than $45 million in nationwide awards to support the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI). The program promotes the use of multi-disciplinary teams by supporting investigation, prosecution, and victim advocacy involved with a comprehensive approach to addressing unsubmitted sexual assault kits. The program also helps law enforcement agencies and crime labs process sexual assault evidence and increase the number of sexual assault kits submitted to crime labs in order to solve more crimes, including cold cases.
“These significant federal funds will help the city of Chicago efficiently process sexual assault evidence and establish DNA profiles,” said U.S. Attorney Lausch. “This is critically important work and effective in reducing violent crime.”
“Far too many people endure the physical and emotional trauma of a sexual assault only to have evidence of the crime remain unanalyzed,” said Katharine T. Sullivan, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for OJP. “These grants will help investigators get these kits to labs, where they can be tested, used to solve crimes and ultimately bring justice to victims.”
For the full list of awards across the country, view the OJP fact sheet.
The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, assist victims and enhance the rule of law by strengthening the criminal and juvenile justice systems. For more information about OJP and its components, visit the OJP website.
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