The National Sexual Assault Violence Resource Center (NSARC) has declared April Sexual Assault Awareness Month #SAAM. The Mission of NSARC is to raise awareness about sexual violence around the world, and to educate communities on how to prevent it. For the Boston Police Department (BPD), we honor this call to action by focusing on the launch of a 2.5 million-dollar, 3-year grant, that was awarded to the BPD in December of 2021, titled the FY 2021 Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI). The Mission of Boston's SAK Initiative is to improve Boston's capacity to respond to violent crime, and the functioning of its criminal justice (CJ) system through the investigation and prosecution of cases resulting from SAK evidence, and the collection of lawfully owned DNA. To accomplish that Mission the BPD will work to improve the criminal justice system's response to victims of sexual assault, in partnership with a wide range of criminal justice (CJ) and service provider partners. Launch of the effort will take place in May 2022 through:
· The development of a Boston SAKI Multidisciplinary Working Group (MWG), led by the BPD's Sexual Assault Unit (SAU) and made up of internal and external CJ partners, including the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office (SCDAO); as well as service providers who specialize in supporting victims of sexual assault (BARCC & SANE[1]);
· The review, inventory and follow up investigation of up to 100 unsolved sexual assault cases that pose the most significant threat to public safety;
· The hiring of a full time SAKI Site Director, Criminal Intelligence Analyst and Victim Witness Advocate;
· The contracting of an Evaluation Consultant; a software company who will digitize detective case management paper files dating back to the early 1980's; and an external Crime Lab to further test available DNA;
· The development of a Training Plan that includes: Trauma informed training for various criminal justice personnel; VICAP case submission training, and interpretation of genealogical testing training; and
· The development of an Evaluation and Sustainability Plan for ongoing improvements and sustainability of the Boston SAKI MWG.
The BPD's SAU, Office of Research and Development (ORD) and Crime Lab are leading these efforts internally, and once launched will convene the SAKI MWG throughout the life of the grant.
Lieutenant Richard Driscoll, Commander of the SAU, is committed to this work, and recently stated "The opportunities presented by this SAK Initiative will give us the tools that we need to support victims of sexual assault in more comprehensive and trauma informed ways. We so appreciate the opportunity that the Bureau of Justice Assistance has given us".
Crime Lab Director, Kevin Kosiorek, is also looking forward to embarking upon this important effort. Mr. Kosiorek recently stated, "We are excited to have the opportunity to apply advanced DNA technology to these older cases in order to identify offenders and provide closure to the survivors".
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