The push for faster justice in Tennessee has seen significant progress, as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) reports a dramatic decrease in the time taken to process sexual assault kits. According to WREG, the average turnaround time has been lowered from 43.8 weeks at the end of 2022 to just 15.4 weeks by March 2024. This development comes after the acknowledgment of processing delays, a factor scrutinized following the murder of Memphis mother Eliza Fletcher in September 2022.
Hiring close to reaching its goal, 48 new crime lab scientists have been credited by State Senator Brent Taylor for the improved efficiency seen at the TBI crime lab in Jackson. "This means that victims have faster resolution and sexual assaulters are held accountable," Taylor maintained in comments echoed by Action News 5. The hiring spree was part of a legislative initiative to bolster the TBI's capabilities following high-profile cases that laid bare the dire delays in bringing sexual predators to justice.
Despite the marked improvements, the timeframe for kit processing in Shelby County as of this year March now stands at under 12 weeks, still, advocates and officials agree there's more to be done. "I think there's still a little more work to do. I believe we can get that turnaround time down a little bit more, because it's important that we're able to turn around those sexual assault kits as quickly as we can," Taylor told Local Memphis.
The gravity of the situation was further underscored by the Memphis Area Women’s Council, with executive director Deborah Clubb highlighting the implications for survivors. Told to Local Memphis, "Rapists are roaming around freely all over the city. That’s a given," expressed Clubb, explicating the emotional toll unprocessed kits can inflict. Moreover, attorney Gary Smith, representing rape survivors in a class-action lawsuit against the City of Memphis over thousands of untested kits, said, "Progress has been made, [but] it is not enough." A major overhaul proposed by advocacy groups includes potentially relocating the crime lab back to Shelby County to further cut down turnaround times.
Cleotha Abston's recent conviction for raping Alicia Franklin in April 2024 casts a long shadow over past procedural failings, underscoring the systemic stakes. Abston was charged just days after his arrest for the killing of Fletcher, with a near year-long gap between the filing of the sexual assault report and its analysis. Some argue that his presence on the streets might have been prevented by swifter kit processing, a sentiment Senator Taylor hinted at in a past interview provided to WREG. For many, the ongoing drop in wait times for kit processing, a hopeful trend needing sustained momentum, cannot come soon enough.
