Forensic kits to collect evidence from rape victims have become routine, but now the city is going to start using similar kits to get the goods on suspects, too, Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday.
“They’re designed to make the collection of this evidence more professional and routine,” the mayor said at North Central Bronx hospital. Officials said police would have to get an emergency court order or a suspect’s consent before collecting DNA, hair and other samples within a 96-hour window.
John Feinblatt, the mayor’s criminal-justice coordinator, said suspects cooperate more often than people might suspect. Officials estimated that the standardized kits for suspects would “make a difference” in 300 of the 1,400 rape cases a year here.