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State Police implement program allowing anonymous tracking of sexual assault kit

4 months 6 days 16 hours ago Tuesday, July 02 2024 Jul 2, 2024 July 02, 2024 5:00 PM July 02, 2024 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE — Sexual assault survivors can now anonymously track the location and status of their sexual assault kit through a web-based program run by State Police.

The Sexual Assault Kit Tracking Program was launched Monday by the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab. The program allows survivors to track their sexual assault kits from the time of collection, through forensic testing and back to law enforcement, State Police said. During this process, no identifiable information is collected, ensuring anonymity.

Director of Louisiana State Police Crime Lab Chad Guidry says their goal with the program is to comfort survivors and maintain transparency with law enforcement.

"In the past, they couldn't be notified where it was in progress, they would have to call the investigative agency or the crime lab. Now they don't have to do that anymore they can directly go to the website and actually see where it's at in progress,” Guidry said. "It also holds us accountable for what is going on with that actual case."

The program was created by a 2023 state law authored by Sen. Beth Mizell. According to State Police, all law enforcement agencies, crime labs, prosecutors and medical personnel are required to participate in the program.

Mizell authored another bill related to sexual assault kits that was signed into law during the 2024 legislative session. The new law creates a Survivors Bill of Rights, requiring agencies to take possession of a kit within 72 hours of collection at a medical facility.

The Tracking System and the Survivor Portal are available here.

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