Sexual Assault Kits Handled Improperly Across Maryland: Frosh

MARYLAND — Despite the Maryland General Assembly passing restrictions in 2017 to block the destruction of most rape kits, a report released by the Maryland Attorney General's Office indicates that some departments continue this practice.

The report found 264 rape kits were destroyed across the state between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2019. The Harford Sheriff’s Office destroyed 87 rape kits, the most of any police force in Maryland, followed by the Frederick Police Department with 84 kits, the Frederick County Sheriff's Office with 26 kits, the Hagerstown Police Department with 15 kits and Elkton and Princess Anne police departments destroying 11 each. Maryland State Police destroyed six sexual assault kits and Baltimore County Police destroyed five kits.

Sherry Llewellyn, spokesperson for the Howard County Police Department, told Patch that the department keeps kits for at least 30 years.

"It has been our policy that they not be destroyed," Llewellyn confirmed.

Sgt. Jacklyn Davis, spokesperson for the Anne Arundel County Police Department, told Patch that the department "goes above and beyond" current state regulations and retains sexual assault evidence kits longer than 20 years.

"SAEKs are preserved by the police department for 80 years (Index Code 1201.3), which attributes to a larger SAEK statistic. For example, we have 387 SAEKs that are more than 20 years old, with some dating back to the early 1980s when DNA analysis began," Davis told Patch.

Sgt. Amy Miguez, spokesperson for the Annapolis Police Department, confirmed to Patch that the department also keeps these kits and doesn't destroy them.

"We are following the state's ruling in our handling of the kits," Miguez told Patch.

Of course, for those departments following state regulations, they now have a sizable log of sexual assault evidence kits and no consistent policy exists across the board as to when to test the kits, how long to keep them and victim notification.

More than 90 percent of untested kits were in the custody of 13 of the 102 law enforcement agencies that responded to the survey, according to the annual report compiled by the Maryland Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Policy and Funding Committee. The report notes that there are many reasons why kits aren't tested, such as a guilty plea admitted by an offender in a case rendering no need to test the kits.

The 14 agencies with the most untested kits in their possession out of the 135 queried are:

• the Montgomery County Police Department (1,165);
• the Baltimore City Police Department (871);
• the Howard County Police Department (503);
• the Anne Arundel County Police Department (207);
• the Baltimore County Police Department (197);
• the Frederick Police Department (143);
• the Harford County Sheriff’s Office (107);
• the Prince George’s County Police Department (99);
• the Maryland State Police (57);
• the Cambridge Police Department (51);
• the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office (49);
• the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office (48);
• the Salisbury Police Department (46);
• Annapolis Police Department (36).

According to the report, each jurisdiction sets its own policy for retaining untested SAEKs. For example, an agency with a 10-year retention policy will have many more untested kits in its inventory than an agency that destroys untested kits every 12 months, such as those listed above. The Montgomery County Police Department reports 1,082 untested kits in its possession, the highest number of any agency surveyed. But the Montgomery County Police Department’s policy is to retain all untested kits indefinitely, so many of the kits in its possession would have been destroyed years ago in other jurisdictions. On the other hand, an agency might have fewer untested kits because fewer crimes of sexual assault were reported in its jurisdiction.

Practitioners from several Maryland jurisdictions were surveyed regarding their process for
keeping or destroying sexual assault kits, whether there are any special procedures for handling anonymous kits and the procedure for notifying victims regarding test results. Policies for kit retention varied widely, the survey revealed, from 90 days to indefinite retention. Retention polices for anonymous kits are equally varied. Anonymous kits are kept for three months in
Baltimore County, six months in Allegany County, 12 months in Calvert and Carroll Counties, 18
months in Howard County and Baltimore City, and two years in Wicomico County. Montgomery County keeps anonymous kits indefinitely.

The committee responsible for compiling the report made several recommendations, including establishing a fixed period of time for retaining untested kits, including anonymous kits, that is no shorter than that prescribed by federal law, which requires that kits be preserved for the statute of limitations or 20 years, whichever is shorter.