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Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) GranteeMobile Police Department (Alabama)

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The Mobile Police Department (MPD) joined the SAKI program in FY2015 after receiving a grant for $828,203. MPD used the funding to inventory, process, and test 1,412 unsubmitted sexual assault kits (SAKs). This initial funding allowed the department to implement a comprehensive sexual assault response reform program, create a working group, and designate a site coordinator.

In FY2016, the MPD received $118,111 in SAKI funding to renovate the existing SAK storage area. This renovation helps to ensure that SAK storage and inventory follow National Institute of Standards and Technology standards and guidelines while protecting and preserving the integrity of SAKs.

In FY2017, SAKI awarded the MPD additional funding with a $1.9-million grant. The additional funds helped create a Special Victims Unit and Family Justice Center. The funding also supports training related to sexual assault evidence collection, DNA technology, victimization and trauma response, and other topics to improve the quality and outcomes of sexual assault investigations and prosecutions.

In FY2018, the MPD was awarded a $1.5-million grant to sustain the Special Victims Unit and Family Justice Center, enter cases into the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, and support criminal analysis efforts.

To assist other jurisdictions in Alabama, the MPD received $293,288 in FY2019 SAKI funding to develop and deliver a training module to other law enforcement agencies focused on fostering a victim-centered, trauma-informed response to sexual assault.

The MPD has used SAKI funding to achieve several goals and milestones, including the following:

  • Submitting 757 SAKs to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for testing. All 757 SAKs have been tested. Of those SAKs, 148 received Combined DNA Index System hits—9 of which were linked to consensual partners.
  • Creating a Special Victims Unit and Family Justice Center, both of which are housed at the Rape Crisis Center (RCC). These new additions to the RCC help investigators collaborate more efficiently with advocates on SAKI efforts.
  • Providing a training module to other law enforcement agencies that focuses on fostering a victim-centered, trauma-informed response to sexual assault.

Learn more about the MPD's Promise Initiative for Survivors of Sexual Assault. The Promise Initiative hotline (251-431-5100, extension 226) is available for anyone who would like more information or thinks they may have an untested SAK at the MPD.

For more information on the specific SAKI awards for this site, see the table below.

Mobile Police Department Funding

Year Amount Purpose Area
FY2015 $828,203 Comprehensive Approach to Unsubmitted Sexual Assault Kits
FY2016 $118,111 Comprehensive Approach to Unsubmitted Sexual Assault Kits
FY2017 $1,962,929 Comprehensive Approach to Unsubmitted Sexual Assault Kits
FY2018 $1,500,000 Comprehensive Approach to Unsubmitted Sexual Assault Kits
FY2019 $293,288 Investigation and Prosecution of Cold Case Sexual Assaults

Please direct all media inquiries to

To learn more about MPD's progress, read the following news and events.

Mobile Police Department (Alabama) Grantee Site Representatives

News and Events

Man arrested 20 years after rape, kidnapping sentenced to life in prison
Fox 10 Staff, Jul 21, 2021
Williams was arrested 20 years after the crime after DNA found on the victim was linked to him. Investigators said the victim's sexual assault kit was never processed until the department received a grant in 2015.

Man arrested 20 years after sexual assault enters blind plea
Fox 10 News Staff, Mar 11, 2021
Man enters blind plea in sexual assault case from 1998. This case is part of the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) and is the second conviction in Mobile related to this program.

Mobile Police nearing the end of its cold case sexual assault kits
Dana Winter, WKRG, Jan 28, 2021
Mobile Police have completed SAKI funded testing on their previously unsubmitted SAKs and have arrests pending.

Mobile County DA gets first conviction in Sexual Assault Kit Initiative
Lindsay Bullard, NBC 15, Feb 12, 2020
A jury found a man guilty Wednesday of the 1997 rape and sodomy of a Mobile County woman.This is the Mobile County District Attorney's Office's first conviction in a Sexual Assault Kit Initiative case, according to a tweet from the D.A.'s official page.

Mobile PD backlog of untested rape kits all submitted to state lab
Cory Pippin, NBC 15, May 28, 2019
The Mobile County District Attorney’s Office told NBC 15 that MPD has now submitted its entire backlog of untested rape kits to the state crime lab.

Suspect charged in 1997 Mobile home invasion rape case
Lawrence Specker, Alabama.com, Feb 23, 2019
The Mobile SAKI-funded task force investigating cold-case sexual assaults in the area have made an arrest in a 1997 case based on DNA evidence from a previously unsubmitted sexaul assault kits.

Mobile's Sexual Assault Kit backlog cleared
Steve Alexander, Fox 10 News, Dec 12, 2018
Thanks to their SAKI funding, Mobile Police Department has tested all of the 750 previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits that were in their custody, and have made three arrests.

SAKI program could lead to more cold case rape arrests
Dana Winter, News 5 WKRG, Dec 11, 2018
The SAKI grant has made it possible for the Mobile Police Department to test 757 sexual assault kits and so far have received more than 100 hits back from CODIS.

Mobile police arrest man in 1989 rape of 3-year-old girl
Mauriel Bailey, My NBC 15, Dec 10, 2018
DNA from previously submitted sexual assault kit led Mobile Police Department to make an arrest in a 29-year-old rape case.

Mobile initiative to punish sexual assault wins $2 Million in new grants
Lawrence Specker, Sep 26, 2018
Thanks to their multiple SAKI grants from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the, Mobile Police Department has been able to work through their previously submitted sexual assault kit sand create a multi-disciplinary team consisting of investigators, prosecutors, victim advocates, and academic experts. The 2018 grant funding will be used to sustain investigative positions and add positions for victim advocates and data analysts.

Cold case rape arrest a milestone for Mobile task force
Lawrence Specker, al.com, Apr 13, 2018
The Mobile Police Department made an arrest in a 1998 case after the sexual assault kit received modern DNA testing. In 2015, the Mobile Police Department received BJA SAKI funding to inventory and test its previously unsubmitted SAKs. In 2016, the Mobile Police Department received another SAKI grant to renovate its evidence storage room. With SAKI funding received in 2017, the Mobile Police Department will build a special victims unit.

Mobile Police Department awarded another $1.9 million in SAKI grants to test rape kits
Keith Lane, mynbc15.com, Oct 6, 2017
The Mobile Police Department (MPD) received another $1.9 million in funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI). This is the third year that MPD has received SAKI funding.

Mobile Police Department Solves 2 decades old cold case of sexual assault of minor
Jared Boyd, AL.com, Apr 13, 2016
A Wilmer man was sentenced to two life sentences of imprisonment after a DNA hit from testing backlogged rape kits matched with a 2 decade-old cold rape case. To learn more about the strides Mobile is making toward ending the backlog of rape kits, read the full article

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Our Mission

Funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative aims to create a coordinated community response that ensures just resolution to sexual assault cases. Through this program, funding is provided to support multidisciplinary community response teams engaged in the comprehensive reform of jurisdictions approaches to sexual assault cases resulting from evidence found in previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits.

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