The Kentucky State Police has received more than $172,000 in federal grant funding to continue the commonwealth’s ongoing work to provide justice to survivors and victims of sexual offenses in the commonwealth through the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI).
The federal funding received by the Kentucky State Police originated from the Bureau of Justice Assistance and will enhance the Kentucky State Police Sexual Assault Kit Initiative investigative the team’s critical work to analyze sexual assault kits and identify suspects through DNA testing. The team, which was created by the Governor Andy Beshear in July 2021, works to leverage existing resources to investigate and identify sexual offenders. The team works with victims, law enforcement partners, prosecutors and community partners to provide enhanced investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases.
Since its creation, the Kentucky State Police Sexual Assault Kit Initiative team has received more than $4.8 million in federal grant funding, including $1.5 million in 2021, more than $840,000 in 2022 and $2.5 million in 2023. The 2023 grant award was the second-largest award in the history of the commonwealth from the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
The Sexual Assault Kit Initative grant program, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, provides financial support to jurisdictions across the country to address the backlog of untested sexual assault kits, investigate and prosecute cases, and support victims of sexual assault.
Last year, work from Kentucky’s Sexual Assault Kit Initative team directly led to the conviction of an individual in a 20-year-old unsolved sexual assault case following the 2023 arrest of the offender.
Source: KSP
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