Progress in Rape Kit Initiative

In 2019, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt launched the Safe Kits Initiative. The effort aims to find out how many untested sexual assault kits there are in Missouri, inventory them, get them tested, and check to see if any DNA samples are linked to potential suspects. During a press conference Thursday in  Springfield, Schmitt says 2,101 of the nearly 45-hundred rape kits have been shipped to labs for testing. Schmitt says the effort has resulted in 155 DNA hits and 35 criminal referrals so far.

Schmitt says the initiative has continued throughout the pandemic.