Los Angeles Police Clear Historic Rape Kit Backlog

   LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Los Angeles Police Department has eliminated its historical backlog of untested evidence kits collected after sexual assaults.

   Capt. Kevin McClure told the city's civilian Police Commission Tuesday that the backlog had been whittled from 6,132 in 2008 to zero. Results from the last several hundred kits still need to be reviewed, but he expects that to happen within 60 days.

   The LAPD came under intense pressure to clear its backlog of untested kits, many of which contained DNA that could potentially identify the attacker in the case. With the help of federal grants, the Police Department outsourced much of the testing to outside agencies.

   McClure says that in 2010, testing of cold case and current rape kits led to the arrests of 245 people.