Law Enforcement Pushes New Protocols for Testing Rape Kits

ST. PAUL (AP) — Minnesota law enforcement officials are calling on lawmakers to create a centralized storage system for rape kits so they can be consistently tracked.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and others held a video news conference Monday to push for legislation that would create the storage at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and establish clearer testing protocols.

A bipartisan bill on the issue was introduced last month. The goal is to standardize the handling of sexual assault evidence.

Continued backlogs have left hundreds of rape kits sitting in police storage untested.