To help boost efforts to solve sexual assault cold cases and improve sexual assault investigations moving forward, the Hackerman Foundation has awarded $300,000 in grant funding to Baltimore County and the Baltimore County Police Department.
From Baltimore County News:
This new funding will support key recommendations from the Baltimore County Sexual Assault Investigations Task Force’s recently released final report to make improvements in several areas of sexual assault investigations.
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The grant funding will support critical areas of need for cold cases, including:
- Testing of GBMC slides. In the 1970s, GBMC emergency room physician Dr. Rudiger Breitenecker recognized the value of evidence from sexual assault survivors and preserved evidence on microscope slides. Dr. Breitenecker continued this collection practice into the early 1990s when the standardized SAFE exam emerged. These slides are maintained at GBMC and previous testing have proven viable for DNA testing which have led to the conviction of several offenders for decades-old crimes. This new funding will support testing of slides in order to attempt to further identify DNA and FBI profiles.
- Applying modern DNA analysis procedures on cases that have been entered into the FBI CODIS.
- Funding to test SAFE Kits from prior to April 30, 2018 to expand efforts to test every eligible kit.
- Staffing, travel, and training for Special Victims staff personnel skilled in the area of investigations to manage increased workload and expedite processing of cases.
- Technology and other department equipment.
For more information read the full news release on Baltimore County News.
