EAST LANSING, MI (AP)-- A researcher says a model used to test thousands of rape kits found in a Detroit police storage facility can help other communities struggling with similar backlogs.
Michigan State University psychology professor Rebecca Campbell says the National Institute of Justice-funded project has tested about 1,600 sexual assault kits "to help reform policy in Detroit and give guidance to other jurisdictions."
The project brought together a team that included prosecutors, police, advocacy groups and researchers. Its final report was released Tuesday.
About 8,700 of more than 11,000 sexual assault kits were found in Detroit in 2009 and had not been tested. Some of the cases dated back to the 1980s.
Campbell says all of the untested Detroit kits have now been tested with funding from other sources.