Audit points to causes of New Mexico’s rape kit backlog
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Millions of dollars are being poured into addressing New Mexico’s backlog of more than 5,000 untested evidence kits from rapes and other sexual assaults. But state auditors and victim advocates warned Tuesday that nothing will change unless new policies and training initiatives are adopted.
New Mexico leads the nation when it comes to the number of untested kits per capita, far outpacing the rest of the states. But even more alarming to auditors was the finding that one-fifth of the kits reviewed as part of a special inquiry went untested because of a perceived lack of credibility on the part of the victim.