>> every swab that is taken as a result of the sa c program come out. any kit that is sent to the crime lab, any request we get is tested. >> so you have all, are there any untested sexual assault kits that the crime lab currently has that are not in the cue of the 9 that are pending? >> no there are not. >> okay. shockingly i don't have anymore questions. >> mr. terman? >> is there is a prioritization difference in known suspect cases where there is an identified issue of whether there is consent or not and

there is an issue as to whether or not it's an act. is there a difference between those two? >> captain fox would be the best to address that commissioner. >> yes, in suspect cases where the suspect is known to the victim, if there is any discrepancy about whether any sexual act occurred, absolutely, that dna is prioritized to the level of an unknown suspect because we need that to move forward to get justice for the survivor as quickly as possible. that would be request from us to the lab to place that in his cue for testing. in the case for the known suspect where the survivor knows her attacker, a lot of times evidence for the dna would not be incriminating because both parties admitting that they have contact with each other. those are not prioritized testing because the probe ative value of that test

is really low and it's not needing to make a case. >> but we do test those kits, but it could be up to 5 months, is that what i'm hearing? >> the kits for a known suspect where a consent is an issue? >> this they would be tested if there is any discrepancy or where physical contact occurred. >> i just want to make sure i under. so in a situation where there is no question as to whether or not there was sexual contact, but the question is, is to whether or not it was consensual. how long -- does that kit necessarily get

tested? >> our policy, commissioner is that we test all kits. now a kit like that, if we have to prioritize and we have to triage like the officer said because if we know who the individual is, the investigation , climbing the wall for the investigation is an unknown suspect is a steeper climb. but we test all kits. that is our policy, that's our mandate and that's what we do. >> okay. how long will it take us just in the prioritization chain, how long will it take us to test the kit? >> the range we have is anywhere from 2 weeks to 9 months. >> before we conclude, i want

to say you have done an slept excellent job with this presentation. you have a better handle with the crime lab. you seem to have got a grasp of all the science involved. what's involved in both with law enforcement and the science side and the legal side when it goes before the court's. i have to tell you that you have done a great job. most people don't know this and i'm not going to embarrass you, but five years ago, you were an undercover with the dea working drug enforcement and this shows how much you have come so far with the department. >> as commissioner hammer made significant progress on this

issue but we have seen crisis intervention and there is constant demand with juries in our folks in san francisco expect the evidence that we can produce and the fact that we are using technology and signs in the best way possible. we are going to have to look at the crime lag lab to improve our time to go provide additional funding to be able to out source these. justice delayed especially for a victim of sexual assault. i know certainly under chief's leadership we can always do better and do more. i would continue to support how this support is made and just not stop. >> in closing, the work is actually by the folks who do it. i have to give a heartfelt acknowledgment to now retired

to you. the mayor's office, the budget people, city hr and the department of hr for getting this funding and the right people in place to create the program and to move this along and get the working relationship. you can see it at the microphone as they go in and out of each other the captain and you have a great handle on this. now the deputy chief is the commander of investigations when this got started. >> i also want to join everything that commissioner loftus said in particular. i would like to ask you to submit sort of the giet gooid guidelines for the prioritization so i can get a clearer understanding of how we

prioritize these situations and the different scenarios and the kit prioritization. >> i will make that available in the morning. >> i appreciate that. >> i appreciate your kind words and your patience. the people at the lab appreciate your support and they have one thing in common with this one member which is the care and they want to help. thank you. >> so before we move to the next agenda item i'm wondering if we can take a question, is it possible to have public comment on it and then take a short break before we move into the occ report. and we get a break and we also hear public comment. is that okay?

>> based upon commissioner's rms -- rms recommendation we are going to have public comment with reference to line items 3 a. >> good evening my name is heather marlow. in response to the presentation that was given i want to speak very briefly since now we are now two hours in about my experience dealing with the sf p.d. in regards to the sexual assault that happened to me. i was raped at beta breakers on may 16, 2010, and i was drugged and raped by an unknown suspect. after the incident occurred, are i agreed to have a sexual assault kit

taken at the san francisco general hospital and after four hour long examination i was told that my kit would be september to the crime lab within 72 hours and under the san francisco ordinance it would be processed best practices mandate processed within 14 days. i followed up with my inspector in order to apprehend the suspect who was then questioned and he told me, the inspector told me that indeed my kit would be processed with the suspect's dna which was taken and would be processed within 14 days. i followed up ninety days later and they also told me that they

would contact me. so i followed up ninety days later and was told that my kit was still in a cue and i was told that i would then need to follow-up six months later. so i followed up at the end of 2010 and i was told by a sergeant there that my kit, that the evidence from my suspect was not put with my kit and that it was still down at sf p.d. and they were going to have to match the evidence with my kit and they also told me to follow-up within six months. so i followed up six months later and i was told that my kit was still not processed. that it was not a priority and that i needed to put it into my iphone to keep

following up with somebody from sf p.d. every three months. so six moss later i followed up again and now we are talking i believe a year 1/2. i was told the same thing that i needed to follow-up within six months and at that point i got to a point where following up in person, following up over the phone, trying to attain any information was becoming very frustrating and retraumatizing because i was continually being told that my kit was not a priority and i was drugged and raped by an unknown person which is at a citywide event to know that that's going on there was of concern to me and i thought it would be a high priority. when i followed up

after two years, the inspect or told me that again it was not a priority and that it would eventually be tested but he couldn't tell me, he said it could be anywhere from two months to 20 years at that point where it would be process. i'm an artist and i was working at a wood shop conference and a woman saw my show and she said this was absolutely absurd. she contacted commissioner loftus and within 14 days i heard back from somebody who processed my kit. but the 14 days that it was supposed to take for my kit

to be processed turned into 868 days and i am very concerned that even though the inspector has said that in 2013 they have made a lot of changes and there is more staff on board to process these kits, i am concerned that there is still a backlog because why would my one kit just happen to slip through the cracks regardless of whether it's a known or unknown suspect. they both of these two men have just spoke and said they do test every single kit within a 14 day to 9 month period and my kit far extended that timeframe and had

i not had the influential activist who helped me to connect with commissioner loftus, i do believe that my kit would still be outstanding. so i don't really want to go on any further, but i wanted to draw this turn -- concern and it's a concern for me and the welfare of our whole city. >> thank you, miss marlow. >> thank you for your courage in coming here tonight. >> commissioners, from san francisco. i want to thank you for this opportunity. following the presentation which the presenters and commission get unlimited time to make comments and ask questions those of us in the public only get three minutes and we have to get triage and talk about the items

that are important and we get labeled as negative people who only focus on negative things. the fact is that one thing is more important and the other is not. first on mental health issues, i want to make an official sunshine records request for a copy of the handout that the commissioner chan gave to the other commissioners so i can be available on that on the crisis training. i have been here on three occasions where it was made clear that funding was being cut. and i made it very clear that giving this training to officers given one more tool available for them to be able to have another way of dealing with the issue of a mental health issue rather than you

reverting you to a weapon of some form. with reference to the sexual assault case, i can say nothing but the fact that the department obviously has made enormous gains. we have a five fold increase in the staff available to process these dna evidence issues and it does not surprise me to hear the young lady who spoke prior to me say in 2010 she was assaulted. there were only 4 people on the staff at that time and i'm sure there were a lot of cases that were lost in the cracks simply because there were no staff available to test them properly. so i can't say anything but positive things about the staff and the effort have been clearly put in place to make this a priority and to get the testing done on a timely basis. i know it's a

complicated process. and as far as giving a clear, this is the priority on every case. i understand the fact that if you are an investigator and you have multiple ways of substantiating what went on, it may not be a priority to have the dna now because you can get that some time in the next nine months and by the time it gets to court it's available and that allows you to prioritize where you don't have another method of identifying the perpetrator. that is a reasonable way of making priorities. >> is there any additional public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. we are going to take a brief recess before we move into line item 3 b. thank you.