ARIZONA
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
ANNUAL REPORT
OF
SEXUAL ASSAULT KITS
November 30, 2023
Arizona Department of Public Safety
“Courteous Vigilance”
Annual Report of Sexual Assault Kits
November 30, 2023
INTRODUCTION
Arizona Revised Statutes §13-1426 and 13-1427 establish the procedure, time limits, and reporting
requirements for the submission and analysis of sexual assault kits (SAKs) in Arizona. ARS §13-
1427.A requires law enforcement agencies to report to the Department of Public Safety the
following:
1. The number of sexual assault kits that the agency received.
2. The number of sexual assault kits that were submitted to a public accredited crime
laboratory for analysis.
3. The number of sexual assault kits that were not submitted to a public accredited crime
laboratory for analysis.
4. The reason or reasons for not submitting evidence from each sexual assault kit to a public
accredited crime laboratory for analysis.
This report includes SAKs received by agencies during FY2023 and how many of those kits were
submitted or not submitted for forensic laboratory analysis.
LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
The Department of Public Safety collected information from 109 Arizona law enforcement
agencies regarding their SAKs received during FY2023. SAK information was collected using the
Track-Kit sexual assault kit tracking system which was fully implemented and made available to
all law enforcement agencies, medical facilities and public crime laboratories by the beginning of
FY2021.
SAK processing information for 108 agencies was reported from the Track-Kit system. The
Phoenix Police Department chose to track their sexual assault kits separately, and the Native
American tribes have the option to use the system but are not required by the statute to report kit
statistics. The Department compiled all information which is summarized in the “Results” section
below.
2023 Annual SAK Report cont’d
Page 3
LABORATORIES
Arizona has seven public accredited crime laboratories that perform forensic DNA analyses:
• The DPS Northern Regional Crime Laboratory in Flagstaff
• The DPS Central Regional Crime Laboratory in Phoenix
• The DPS Southern Regional Crime Laboratory in Tucson
• The Phoenix Police Department Crime Laboratory
• The Tucson Police Department Crime Laboratory
• The Mesa Police Department Crime Laboratory
• The Scottsdale Police Department Crime Laboratory
The municipal laboratories provide forensic DNA analysis of SAKs to their respective agencies
(and other agencies through intergovernmental agreement), and the DPS laboratories provide
analysis to all other Arizona agencies. All the public accredited crime laboratories analyze every
SAK submitted for analysis and do not decline analysis of any SAK.
RESULTS
In FY2023, the Department collected data using Track-Kit, a web-based system for tracking all
SAKs from the collection of the kit by a forensic nurse examiner, continuing through the transfer
to the law enforcement agency and concluding with the laboratory forensic DNA analysis. This
system offers real-time tracking of the location of each SAK and provides the status of each kit to
all stakeholders in the SAK collection and analysis process.
The Department gathered information from 109 Arizona law enforcement agencies regarding the
number of SAKs received by each agency in FY2023. The Track-Kit system was utilized by 108
of the 109 agencies, and the other agency provided SAK information directly to the Department.
The information collected from each agency also includes the number of SAKs submitted to a
laboratory for forensic DNA analysis and the reasons SAKs were not submitted to a laboratory.
The responses from the individual agencies are included in Appendix A.
A total of 1,805 SAKs were received by these agencies in FY2023, and 1,458 (80.7%) of these
kits were subsequently submitted to a laboratory for analysis. For the 347 unsubmitted kits,
agencies selected reasons for not submitting the kits for analysis which included:
• The allegations were determined to be unfounded through investigation.
• The victim elected to not move forward with the analysis of the SAK.
• Other
Examples of “Other” reasons include the agency was assisting another agency (the crime occurred
in another jurisdiction), the suspect confessed, the prosecuting attorney declined prosecution, or
the victim was unwilling to cooperate or proceed with prosecution.
2023 Annual SAK Report cont’d
Page 4
In addition to the unsubmitted kits, there were also 30 kits collected at medical facilities that are
not associated with any law enforcement agencies. Consent for forensic testing was not provided
for any of these kits.
The Track-Kit system allows survivors to log into the system anonymously to track the progress
of their sexual assault kit. The system provides them with information regarding when their kit is
transmitted from the medical facility to the law enforcement agency or from the law enforcement
agency to the forensic laboratory. Survivors can also see when the analysis of the kit has been
completed.
During FY2023, 229 survivors accessed the Track-Kit system 1,201 times to view the progress of
their kits. This feature gives the survivors much more timely information regarding the progress
of their kit analysis while maintaining their privacy. Given this information, survivors can inquire
about delays in kit processing which provides another level of accountability for ensuring that the
kit analysis is completed in a timely fashion.
2023 Annual SAK Report cont’d
Page 5
APPENDIX A
ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
AGENCY REPORT
OF
SEXUAL ASSAULT KIT SUBMISSIONS
FISCAL YEAR 2023
SAKs Received – The number of Sexual Assault Kits received by an agency in FY2023
SAKs Submitted – The number of SAKs received that were subsequently submitted to a forensic
laboratory for DNA analysis
SAKs Not Submitted – The number of SAKs received that were not submitted to a forensic
laboratory for analysis
Reasons for SAKs Not Submitted – Reasons provided by the agency for SAKs that were not
submitted for analysis. Reason options were:
• Unfounded – The allegations were unfounded as determined by the investigating agency
• VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) – The victim elected to not move forward with
the analysis of the SAK as a provision of VAWA
• Other – Reasons other than Unfounded or VAWA
Law Enforcement Agency
SAKs
Received
SAKs
Submitted
SAKs Not
Submitted
Unfounded
VAWA
Other
Apache County Sheriff's Office
2
0
2
0
0
2
Apache Junction PD
9
7
2
0
0
2
Arizona Department of Corrections
10
5
5
0
1
4
Arizona Department of Corrections – Florence/Eyman
0
0
0
Arizona Department of Public Safety
1
1
0
Arizona State University PD
5
3
2
0
0
2
Arizona Western College PD
0
0
0
Avondale PD
24
21
3
0
0
3
Benson PD
0
0
0
Bisbee PD
0
0
0
Buckeye PD
24
19
5
0
0
5
Bullhead City PD
3
2
1
1
0
0
Camp Verde Marshal's Office
0
0
0
Casa Grande PD
17
9
8
3
2
3
Central Arizona College PD
0
0
0
Chandler PD
61
54
7
0
1
6
Chino Valley PD
1
0
1
0
0
1
Clarkdale PD
0
0
0
2023 Annual SAK Report cont’d
Page 6
Clifton PD
0
0
0
Cochise County Sheriff's Office
6
4
2
0
1
1
Coconino County Sheriff's Office
7
4
3
0
0
3
Colorado River Indian Tribes (C.R.I.T.) Police
Department
0
0
0
Coolidge PD
2
0
2
0
0
2
Cottonwood PD
6
5
1
0
0
1
Douglas PD
0
0
0
Eagar PD
1
1
0
Eastern Arizona College PD
0
0
0
El Mirage PD
6
5
1
0
0
1
Eloy PD
2
2
0
Flagstaff PD
37
18
19
0
2
17
Florence PD
7
4
3
0
0
3
Fredonia Marshal's Office
0
0
0
Gila County Sheriff's Office
3
2
1
0
0
1
Gila River Police Department
12
5
7
0
0
7
Gilbert PD
38
20
18
0
0
18
Glendale PD
73
66
7
0
3
4
Globe PD
3
1
2
0
0
2
Goodyear Police Department
21
18
3
0
1
2
Graham County Sheriff's Office
1
1
0
Grand Canyon University PD
0
0
0
Greenlee County Sheriff’s Office
0
0
0
Hayden PD
1
0
1
0
0
1
Holbrook PD
2
1
1
0
0
1
Huachuca City PD
0
0
0
Jerome PD
0
0
0
Kearny PD
1
1
0
Kingman PD
8
6
2
1
0
1
Lake Havasu City PD
11
5
6
0
0
6
La Paz County Sheriff’s Office
0
0
0
Mammoth PD
0
0
0
Marana Police Department
4
4
0
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office
50
41
9
0
1
8
Maricopa PD
11
6
5
1
1
3
Mesa PD
121
110
11
0
2
9
Miami PD
0
0
0
Mohave County Sheriff’s Office
7
3
4
0
0
4
Navajo PD
11
0
11
0
0
11
Navajo County Sheriff’s Office
8
2
6
0
1
5
Nogales PD
0
0
0
Northern Arizona University PD
5
2
3
0
0
3
Oro Valley PD
4
2
2
0
1
1
Page PD
3
3
0
Paradise Valley PD
2
2
0
Parker PD
0
0
0
Patagonia Marshal's Office
0
0
0
Payson PD
2
2
0
Peoria PD
24
13
11
0
1
10
Phoenix PD
579
568
11
0
11
0
Pima College PD
0
0
0
2023 Annual SAK Report cont’d
Page 7
Pima County Sheriff’s Department
44
37
7
2
1
4
Pima PD
0
0
0
Pinal County Sheriff’s Office
23
10
13
0
0
13
Pinetop-Lakeside PD
4
3
1
0
1
0
Prescott PD
10
6
4
0
0
4
Prescott Valley PD
6
3
3
0
0
3
Quartzsite PD
0
0
0
Queen Creek PD
14
8
6
3
1
2
Safford PD
4
1
3
0
0
3
Sahuarita PD
2
2
0
Saint Johns PD
1
1
0
Salt River PD
9
3
6
0
0
6
San Luis PD
2
0
2
0
0
2
Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office
2
1
1
0
0
1
Scottsdale PD
88
39
49
0
16
33
Sedona PD
0
0
0
Show Low PD
6
1
5
0
0
5
Sierra Vista Police
2
2
0
Snowflake-Taylor PD
1
1
0
Somerton PD
2
2
0
South Tucson PD
1
1
0
Special Victim’s Unit
0
0
0
Springerville PD
0
0
0
Superior PD
0
0
0
Surprise PD
25
17
8
0
0
8
Tempe PD
96
87
9
0
5
4
Thatcher PD
1
1
0
Tolleson PD
6
6
0
Tombstone Marshal's Office
0
0
0
Tucson PD
177
148
29
0
27
2
University of Arizona PD
6
2
4
0
2
2
Wellton PD
0
0
0
Wickenburg PD
0
0
0
Willcox PD
0
0
0
Williams PD
0
0
0
Winslow PD
7
4
3
0
2
1
Yavapai College PD
0
0
0
Yavapai County Sheriff's Office
8
6
2
0
0
2
Yuma County Sheriff's Office
4
4
0
Yuma PD
18
14
4
1
2
1