Memphis Finds Funding to Test Rape Kits

Memphis officials have added $500,000 to the city's budget to pay for testing of backlogged rape kits and have committed $1 million to construct a new climate-controlled facility to store and catalog the evidence, the Jackson Sun reports. The issue surfaced last month when the police department reported there were some 8,000 kits dating back to the 1980s that had not been tested, and more than 6,000 pieces of evidence that need to be moved into rape kits. Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich said her department has enough staff to handle the testing. “If all 109 prosecutors in my office have to take all the new files and split them up, that’s what we’ll do,” she said. “This is about getting violent criminals off the street.” The Commercial Appeal has her remarks.