ATLANTA — A new online system in Georgia allows victims and investigators to track the status of sexual assault kits.
The system offers a level of accountability and transparency that hasn't existed previously in Georgia. It was created in response to previous backlogs of cases that in some instances sat on shelves for years before being tested.
The backlogs were first reported in 2016 and the GBI eventually tested the kits after receiving increased funding and staffing.
In 2021, state lawmakers passed legislation to create the new tracking system which went online statewide on June 30.
After two months, 800 sexual assault kits have been entered into the system, according to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, which operates the system.
"The tracking system is really the next step in making sure we are preventing those backlogs," said Amy Hutsell, Program Director of the Sexual Assault, Child Abuse and Human Trafficking Unit of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. "I think, a just as important, part of that is the transparency that it creates for victims for survivors of sexual assault. We wanted to send a very strong message to them that the knowledge they rightfully have about where evidence is located, is available to them."
Hutsell told 11Alive Tuesday that statewide all law enforcement agencies that investigate sexual assaults, along with any hospital or center conducting forensic medical exams for sexual assaults, should have access to the system.
After a kit is created, it is entered into the tracking system. The victim is then given a website address and kit number.
"The victim then has access to information that will let them know where the location of the kit is, if the GBI crime lab has received the kit and if that kit has been tested," Hutsell said.
Specifics of the test results would still be relayed to the victims by investigators or prosecutors, as results are not displayed in the tracking system.
Kevin Angell is an instructor with the Georgia Public Safety Training Center.
The center created an online training course for the tracking system that officers statewide have been completing.
"They don't have to travel, they can take it from their own desk," Angell said of the course.
In the online course, officers learn how the system works and how to enter kits into the system. Then, they can also track the status of kits for cases they're investigating.
Angell added officers see great value in the system.
"I know that a lot of the criminal investigation divisions have required this training for their detectives because it is essential and is nothing but an increase with our relationship with victims," he said.
So far, feedback on the new tracking system has been positive, according to Hutsell. She added as feedback continues to come in there could be ways to expand the system in the future.
"It is fully functional but as there are opportunities to continue to enhance it based on the feedback that we get from our users we are going to continue to look at that as well," she said.
Resources for survivors of sexual assault in Georgia can be found: online here.