WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. – Multiple Whatcom County law enforcement agencies will receive funds to aid in sexual assault investigations.
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has announced that more than $177,000 in funding for expanded evidence storage is going out to departments statewide.
The money will help the state improve its response to sexual assault cases and work through its rape kit backlog.
Blaine and Ferndale Police Departments, as well as the Whatcom County Sheriffs Office, are on the list to receive funds for purchasing additional refrigeration units.
The upgraded storage will help Washington law enforcement agencies that don’t currently comply with a law passed in 2020.
That law requires police to store evidence from an unreported assault for at least 20 years, as victims may not file a report until long after the initial crime.
In addition, kits from reported assaults must be stored for a minimum of 100 years.