Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will receive a grant of $2,917,201 to address its evidence evaluation crime lab backlog. The funding comes after a significant time lapse in testing a Memphis victim’s rape kit led to the rape and murder of a Memphis kindergarten teacher.

Congressman Cohen has for years worked to provide additional funding to reduce the rape kit backlog, including offering and passing several amendments to increase funding for Department of Justice agencies. In 2015, Memphis received nearly $2 million and, in 2017, it received just over $1 million from this program to reduce its rape kit backlog. In 2020, Congressman Cohen announced a Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative grant of $2 million to the City of Memphis.  To date, the city has received more than $9.7 million in federal funding to identify sexual predators.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

“For some crime victims, this funding comes too late, but it is essential to perform timely DNA sample testing if justice is to be done. I am pleased that the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs has made this a priority.”

Original source can be found here.