Grant Allows TPD To Test Over 700 Rape Kits

The Tulsa police department is a step closer to testing some of its untested rape kits, thanks to a grant from the Department of Justice.

This grant will allow the Tulsa Police Department to test around 750 kits out of the three thousand they have. And, they have already started deciding which ones will take top priority.

They're picking cases where the suspect was a stranger, cases that are still within the statute of limitations, and where the victim is willing to participate in the prosecution of the case, should they get a hit on the DNA.

"We do respect our victims and what they want out of the process. Everybody is different and handles the trauma differently," said Sergeant Jillian Phippen.

Their first step was to hire a detective to review all the cases to see which ones meet that criteria, which is a huge undertaking, so they hired a detective already in the unit with more than 20 years’ experience.

The next step is to hire a victim advocate, someone to keep victims updated and do follow up, something detectives often don't have time to do.

"We may get a case and make a good arrest, then that detective has 10 more cases on their desk so they're moving on to those," said Phippen.

The bulk of the money will be spent testing the kits at a lab, which will cost around $1,000 each. The results will go into CODIS, a DNA database and be available to police departments all over the U.S.

"We know individuals who commit these crimes are not only rapists but are burglars, robbers, even murderers," said Phippen.

They say their goal is to get Tulsa victims the justice they need but, they're also hoping some of these results will affect cases all over the U.S.