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An effort to find out how many rape kits in police custody in Florida that have not been tested is not yet complete, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the study has found almost 11 thousand untested kits sitting on shelves and the number is likely to grow.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement survey of untested rape kits is 84 percent complete. It found 10,900 kits in evidence lockers across Florida. Jennifer Dritt of the Florida Council against sexual violence says she isn’t surprised, but.

“We don like it, and most victim advocates don’t like it, but it’s really not surprising because there are a number of issues that lead to a backlog” says Dritt.

Reasons for not testing some kits include a change of heart by victims, arrests have already been made, prosecutors doubt allegations, or: “Does the jurisdiction, does the law enforcement agency prioritize sexual assault investigations?  Very often they don’t” says Dritt.

The Council Against Sexual Violence thinks every kit should be tested.

“Processing a kit can lead to removing someone from a pool of suspects, basically someone who is a suspect and should;don’t be. It can validate or verify a victims’s story.  It can link crimes to other unsolved crimes.”

Plans to our source some of the testing of the oldest rape kits ran into trouble this past week.”

Sen. Joe Negro worried the outsourced tests won’t stand up in court.

Costs remain an issue. Testing each kit costs between 750 and 900 dollars.

Q:“Do you think it will be worth the ten million or so it will cost?”

A:”Absolutely. I absolutely do.”

The complete survey is due by January first.

The Department of Law Enforcement declined to appear on camera for this story saying it wanted to wait until the survey was complete. Legislation introduced for the coming legislative session requires every new rape kit to be sent in for testing within three weeks of its receipt..and says backlogged kits need to be tested by June of 2017.