Rape Kit Reporting Bill Stalls In California Senate

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A bill to strengthen rape kit reporting requirements for police departments has failed to advance in the California Senate.

The measure would have required local departments to report the number of rape kits they collect to the state Department of Justice and give a reason for each that goes untested.

The Senate appropriations committee held AB1848 on Thursday, after it previously passed the Assembly unanimously.

Democratic Assemblyman David Chiu of San Francisco had said the bill would give a better idea of the statewide backlog of kits and why they haven't been tested. Data would be made public in an annual summary.

Previous bills attempting to force police to test kits more quickly died when police testified they didn't have enough resources to test them all.