RICHMOND (October 4, 2019) –Attorney General Mark R. Herring and the Department of Forensic Science (DFS) are launching Virginia’s first-ever statewide PERK tracking system, a secure, comprehensive electronic tracking system that will allow survivors, DFS, law enforcement agencies, and hospitals to know the status and location of a PERK kit at any given moment. The new PERK tracking system was developed as part of Attorney General Herring’s ongoing project in conjunction with DFS, law enforcement agencies, survivors, and victim advocates to transform the way Virginia responds to sexual and domestic violence.
“In years past, survivors often had no idea whether their kit had actually been tested, and we found out it often hadn’t been, which is so disrespectful to a survivor and really undermined trust in the system. We’ve made so much progress over the last few years to empower survivors, improve communication and transparency, and implement trauma-informed, survivor-centered, practices, and this new system is going to be yet another big step forward,” said Attorney General Herring. “With this new system, survivors, as well as hospitals, labs, and law enforcement agencies, will know exactly what’s happening with a kit, where it is physically located, and where it is in the testing process at any given moment. I want to thank our great partners at DFS for all their hard work and dedication in bringing this project to life.”
“The Department of Forensic Science has always been a leader in utilizing technology to achieve its mission, and this new system is just the latest example,” said Brian J. Moran, Virginia Secretary of Homeland Security and Public Safety. “The PERK tracking system shows our Commonwealth’s commitment to justice for survivors by providing accountability and ensuring PERKs are submitted for analysis in a timely manner. Governor Northam was proud to support this initiative by signing the legislation mandating use of the system beginning July 1, 2020.”
“DFS is proud to play an important role in supporting the criminal justice system by providing standardized PERKs for the collection of sexual assault evidence and providing timely and accurate testing results,” said Linda C. Jackson, Director of the Virginia Department of Forensic Science. “We are excited about launching the PERK tracking system, which provides useful information to all of our users, including law enforcement agencies, hospitals, and survivors.”
“Virginia’s new sexual assault kit tracking system will prove to be an important tool for survivors by promoting greater transparency and control throughout a difficult process,” said Jonathan Yglesias, Policy Director of the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. “This is a crucial step in the direction of establishing systems-based responses that are trauma-informed and healing-centered in their approaches to serving sexual assault survivor.”
With the new tracking system, PERKs will be tracked at each step in the process, including their distribution as uncollected kits to collection sites (e.g., hospitals) through collection, transfer to law enforcement, submission to the laboratory for analysis, and return to the law enforcement agency for storage. All agencies handling kits will be required to update the status of each kit, and survivors may use the system to check the status of the analysis of their kits at any time.
The system will notify law enforcement users when collected kits have not been timely submitted for analysis, providing an important measure of accountability, and will provide law enforcement agencies and hospitals with a useful tool to manage their kits and inventories.
The system also includes important protections to ensure survivors’ privacy. No personal information will be stored in the system, access will be restricted to only the information a particular user might need, and kits will be monitored solely by their tracking number.
The PERK tracking system has been in an ongoing soft launch since June and will be mandatory starting July 1, 2020. Currently five organizations/agencies are using the system and DFS will conduct trainings with the remaining entities before use of the system is mandatory. The system will ultimately cost about $100,000, all of which is covered by a $2 million Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) grant secured in 2017 by Attorney General Herring and DFS.
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