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Forensic and SVU captains report faster SAEK turnaround and 30 CODIS matches so far in 2017
Summary
The Forensic Services Division and Special Victims Unit told the commission that 177 sexual assault evidence kits were submitted in the extraction period; 150 completed, 96 CODIS uploads and 30 CODIS matches were reported. Average turnaround times declined markedly versus the prior year.
Captains from the San Francisco Police Department's Forensic Service Division and Special Victims Unit presented the commission with a biannual report on sexual assault evidence kits (SAEKs) and victim notification compliance for the extraction period Jan. 1'June 30, 2017.
Captain Greg Marr reported 177 kits submitted during the extraction period, of which 150 were completed and 27 remained in progress at the time of the briefing. He said the lab's average start time after delivery was about two to three calendar days (longest seven days) and that no cases exceeded the 120-day analysis/upload mandate required by the commission resolution.
Monthly average turnaround times for the reporting period declined compared with the prior year: January averaged about 69 days, February 40, March 27, April 24, May 23 and June 24, compared with last year's 74.5-day average. Captain Marr credited added staff, improved chemistry kits, robotics and workflow changes for the reduction.
Captain Marr said the lab produced 96 CODIS uploads during the combined reporting dataset and that those uploads produced 30 matches during the period; by comparison he cited last year's figures (114 uploads and 46 matches for the full year) and said the department is on track to perform as well or better than the prior year.
Captain Oona Bailey, speaking for SVU, said the unit achieved 100 percent compliance for notifications during the extraction period (meaning survivors were either notified, attempts were made, or survivor requests to not be notified were honored). Bailey said 165 of the 177 kits were delivered to property within the five-day requirement; 12 kits missed the five-day window due to outside-agency transfers (7), a glitch at San Francisco General Hospital (4) and one internal SVU delay occurring over a holiday weekend.
Both captains described corrective steps: a SharePoint tracking procedure, redundant email pickup notifications and a new internal auditing process to ensure timely transfer and processing of kits. Marr said the department plans to deploy new STR complex-mixture software in the next extraction period to improve analysis of complex cases and potentially increase CODIS-eligible uploads.
Commissioners praised the improvements and asked technical questions about individual kit complexity and courtroom validation of new techniques. Both captains said new methods undergo scientific validation before use and that newly hired criminalists were vetted and trained for the updated workflow.
No formal action was taken. The commission thanked the forensic and SVU teams for the reported progress.
