Newly obtained DNA from WA sex offenders may help solve cold cases

Sex offenders and people convicted of violent felonies in Washington state are required to give a sample of their DNA, which is then entered into a national database. For years, much of that DNA went uncollected, until now.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced recently that DNA had finally been obtained from nearly every registered sex offender in the state. He talked to KUOW’s Kim Malcolm about the collection effort, which could lead to identifying serial rapists, and linking cases across the country.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson: Once that information is placed in the database, it's critical. You've got other DNA that's been entered there where, for example, law enforcement officials may be trying to solve a cold case. When you put more DNA in the system, that's when you can get a match. That's a key way in which law enforcement all across Washington state can solve cold cases and bring accountability and justice for the victims.

Kim Malcolm: And there were hits on some of those DNA samples with unsolved cases, right?

That is correct. We've already seen eight hits from the 400 or so DNA samples of these registered sex offenders. That has led to three investigations from local law enforcement.

The next phase of this project is to collect DNA from people who were convicted of other types of violent crimes. Do you know how many people are in that group, and what you might expect to come from that?

The next group we're prioritizing are very serious felons. These would be homicides, attempted homicides, kidnappings, those types of offenses. There are literally many hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals who meet that criteria. I have a team of six or seven people who spend all their days going through multiple databases to identify who these folks are. The team does a lot of work to narrow that group down. Then we reach out to them to have them come in and provide their DNA to law enforcement.

You mentioned we don't have a statewide process for collecting these DNA samples from offenders. What is happening to change that?

It's an understatement to say we don't have a unified system. Local law enforcement agencies across the state all have different systems for collecting the DNA. The best way to collect it is literally in the courtroom, when somebody, for example, pleads guilty.

The problem is, a lot of folks are just released into the community. They are told to provide their DNA, but they don't do it. There needs to be some action that creates a unified system, where there's an expectation that law enforcement all across the state will collect this DNA from these individuals so we get into that database. Right now, that's not the case. The state needs to prioritize that and get a system in place, and provide the resources for local law enforcement to be able to do this. It's time consuming work. It's not inexpensive, but it's important that it gets done.

This current DNA collection effort is part of a larger issue regarding the backlog of sexual assault kits. I know at one point there were more than 10,000 evidence kits that hadn't been fully tested and entered into the database. How much work is there left to do?

We've come a long way on that project, thankfully. Just so your listeners are aware, these kits are what a victim of a sexual assault goes through in a very invasive medical process to provide the DNA from their body for law enforcement. Literally thousands of these sexual assault kits were simply sitting on shelves of law enforcement agencies all across the state, never tested.

Working with legislators and others, we set about trying to inventory how many of those kits were untested, and then get them tested. The good news is, now the end is in sight. I'd say in the next 18 months or so we should have completed the backlog. We have a new facility to test these kits at a faster rate. We're nearing the finish line on that, which will be important not just to get it done, but to get that DNA in this database where we can start solving more crimes.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.