JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Today, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey released the 2023 SAFE Kit Inventory Report.
“As a former prosecutor, I have witnessed firsthand the courage it takes for a victim to come forward and report a crime of this nature,” said Attorney General Bailey. “The SAFE Kit Initiative will never be treated as an academic exercise for the attorneys and staff in my office. The Attorney General’s Office is singularly motivated by one thing: honoring the courage of those who have come forward.”
Since the SAFE Kit Initiative’s inception, and the first statewide inventory of untested sexual assault kits was completed in 2019, the Attorney General’s Office has made incredible strides in its goal to clear the backlog. Under the guidance of Judge M. Keithley Williams, there has been a 93% reduction in the volume of untested, reported kits inventoried since 2019, and more than 80% of Missouri law enforcement agencies have no untested sexual assault kits to report.
Additionally, the 993 DNA profiles uploaded from tested kits into the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, have already resulted in 457 CODIS hits, three felony convictions, and nine other cases set for trial or with warrants issued.
Attorney General Bailey concluded, “While we have made great strides through the SAFE Kit Initiative, there is still work to be done. The Attorney General’s Office will continue to use every tool at its disposal to clear the backlog of untested, reported sexual assault kits throughout the state and obtain justice for victims.”
The report is designed to detail Missouri’s third statewide inventory in its quest to clear the backlog of untested sexual assault kits. Read it here.