JUSTICE DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS DNA
EVIDENCE INFORMATION
FOR VICTIM SERVICE PROVIDERS
Contact:
Office of Justice Programs, Congressional and Public Affairs Office,
202-307-0703
?? SAN ANTONIO, Texas, May 25, ?-- Tonight at a national conference for
professionals who work with sexual assault victims, the Justice Department will
release two new publications to help victim service providers better understand
DNA evidence and its significance.
?? "DNA evidence has revolutionized how
law enforcement
investigates
violent crimes, particularly rape and sexual assault,"
said
Attorney General John Ashcroft.
"As the use of DNA evidence
grows, we
must make sure that victims and those who help them know
how this
evidence is collected and used to bring offenders to
justice."
?? The two publications, a bulletin and a
brochure titled
"Understanding
DNA Evidence: A Guide for Victim Service Providers,"
are
intended for victim service provides, crime scene technicians
and other
medical personnel.? Both describe the
basics of DNA,
where DNA
evidence can be found at a crime scene or on the victim
and
procedures for proper evidence collection and preservation.
They also
contain information about the Combined DNA Index System
(CODIS), a
database that allows federal, state and local forensic
crime
laboratories to work together to solve crimes that contain
biological
evidence.? In addition, they provide a
list of
references
and selected publications on DNA evidence.
?? The bulletin includes more detailed
information on DNA
collection
and testing and how to explain the role of DNA evidence
to a crime
victim.? It also features case studies
illustrating how
DNA
evidence can be used to convict offenders or exonerate
defendants
in criminal cases.? The bulletin also
contains a
glossary
of key DNA-related technological terms that victim service
providers
may encounter during an investigation.
?? The brochure is a collection between the
National Institute of
Justice
(NIJ), Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and the National
Commission
on the Future DNA Evidence.
?? Both the bulletin and the brochure will be
distributed at the
OVC-sponsored
Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) Training
Conference
in San Antonio, Texas.? The SART
Training, the first
national,
multidisciplinary training conference on serving sexual
assault
victims, will begin tonight and continue through Sunday.
More than
660 participants are expected, including law enforcement
professionals,
prosecutors, forensic examiners, sexual assault
nurse
examiners, victim service providers and victim advocates.
?? "Understanding DNA Evidence: A guide for
Victim Service
Providers,"
the brochure and the bulletin, are available through
the Office
of Justice Programs website at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov,
from the
OVC Resource Center at 1-800-627-6872 and from the
National
Criminal Justice Reference Service at 800-851-3420.
More
information about the SART Training Conference is available at
www.sane-sart.com.
?? Media should contact OJP's Office of
Congressional and Public
Affairs at
202-307-0703