This project, funded by the National Institute of Justice, was a supplement to the Sexual Violence Case Attrition Project with a specific focus to examine the impact of sexual assault forensic testing (rape kits) on key decision points and outcomes.

Key study objectives included:

1. Document one police jurisdiction’s real time organizational and procedural adaptation to an unfunded mandate to test all kits;
2. Compare case attrition before mandated testing and after mandated testing was implemented;
3. Determine the extent to which forensic testing identifies persons with DNA profiles in CODIS; and
4. Describe the victim notification process.

This project was supported by Award No. 2014-Mu-MU-0001awarded to the University of Massachusetts Lowell by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.