San Francisco Police Department criticized for using DNA from rape kits to identify suspects in unrelated crimes

The San Francisco Police Department is being criticized by city and state officials for a controversial practice of using DNA data collected from rape kits ffrom sexual assault incidents to identify potential suspects in unrelated crimes.

The practice was first discovered when a female sexual assault victim was identified as a possible suspect in a property crime that occurred years after her assault. She was identified using DNA data that is believed to have come from a sample collected when she reported her assault. 

District Attorney Chesa Boudin released a statement earlier this week denouncing the practice. “Rapes and sexual assault are violent, dehumanizing, and traumatic. I am disturbed that victims who have the courage to undergo an invasive examination to help identify their perpetrators are being treated like criminals rather than supported as crime victims,” Boudin said.

“We should encourage survivors to come forward—not collect evidence to use against them in the future. This practice treats victims like evidence, not human beings. This is legally and ethically wrong. My office is demanding that this practice end immediately,” the DA continued.

San Francisco Police Chief William Scott says he believed all department practices to be in compliance with state and national standards, but added, “We must never create disincentives for crime victims to cooperate with police, and if it’s true that DNA collected from a rape or sexual assault victim has been used by SFPD to identify and apprehend that person as a suspect in another crime, I’m committed to ending the practice.”