Events
Welcome
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Training and Technical Assistance (SAKI TTA) Team look forward to welcoming you to the 9th Annual National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Grantees Meeting in Denver, CO on October 28-30, 2024. We are excited to host this annual convening for a program that enacts improved policy and practice to resolve sexual assault and violent crime cases by providing direct assistance to jurisdictions that contend with the impact of unsubmitted sexual assault kits; addressing questions related to effective testing strategies, including advanced DNA testing; and supporting the development of sustainable practices and policies for the investigation and prosecution of cold case investigations.
BJA began funding SAKI sites in 2015, selecting 20 state and local jurisdictions as the initial sites. Since then, BJA has funded a combination of existing sites and new jurisdictions each year:
- 2016: 13 existing SAKI sites and 12 new jurisdictions
- 2017: 12 existing SAKI sites and 9 new jurisdictions
- 2018: 16 existing SAKI sites and 13 new jurisdictions
- 2019: 19 existing SAKI sites and 10 new jurisdictions
- 2020: 28 existing SAKI sites and 7 new jurisdictions
- 2021: 19 existing SAKI sites and 5 new jurisdictions
- 2022: 14 existing SAKI sites and 4 new jurisdictions
- 2023: 18 existing SAKI sites and 7 new jurisdictions
BJA and the SAKI TTA Team are committed to partnering with communities to develop a coordinated community response to cold case violent crimes, including sexual assaults and sexually motivated homicides. Our goal is to offer the required expertise and level of assistance for SAKI sites to establish effective and sustainable practices for collecting and processing lawfully owed DNA and forensic evidence, entering data in the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP), investigating and prosecuting violent cold case crimes, and enhancing family and victim services to support survivors of sexual assault and other violent crimes.
During this 3-day meeting, you will have the opportunity to engage with your fellow SAKI grantees about current challenges and successes within and across state and local jurisdictions.
The featured sessions will include presentations from the FBI and Cuyahoga County SAKI site, focusing on a case study of the Shenandoah Homicide cold case, along with a survivor's account of the East Side Serial Rapist case.
Other key topics will cover family advocacy and media strategies, follow-up on CODIS hits, prosecutorial considerations, an overview of Smith v Arizona, sustainability planning, familial DNA searches, among others.
On the final day, we will concentrate on statewide SAKI sites, addressing specific challenges, policy development, and the critical role of local partnerships. We encourage participants from statewide SAKI sites to attend Day 3 to benefit from peer insights on issues pertinent to their unique contexts.
We thank each of you who will be attending this meeting and contributing your vision, knowledge, and experience to resolving this national problem. We look forward to your participation, ideas, and insight as we build new relationships, foster collaborations, and derive best practices for an improved national response to violent crime and sexual assault.
