Story last updated at 10/21/2009 - 10:39 am
ANCHORAGE - A state Senate committee is urging the Department of Public Safety to do a better job tracking sexual assaults and helping rape victims.
The chairman of the Judicial Committee, Hollis French of Anchorage, who also is running for governor, says there are simple ways to build stronger cases for prosecution.
The Anchorage Daily News says a committee report released Friday calls the current sex assault data system inadequate. The committee says reporting for 2007 didn't include child or male victims, and 41 mostly smaller and rural departments failed to report data.
The committee report says Alaska needs more village public safety officers and forensic nurses.
"We have a serious problem here in the state," French said. "Just focusing on the people that we've convicted isn't getting at the problem."
Alaska has the highest rate of sexual assault in the nation. The Juneau Police Department alone investigates dozens of reported rapes each year, including 30 in 2005, 32 in 2006, 18 in 2007, and 27 in 2008, according to FBI crime statistics.
The report suggests looking for ways to help the State Crime Lab process DNA evidence quickly and continuing support of programs to reduce alcohol consumption, which is a factor in a majority of sex assault cases for Anchorage police.
The report also urges lawmakers to expand the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which targets online predators dealing in child porn or seeking out kids in chat rooms.
) to vote to remove a comment. Three votes will hide a comment from view.
or 
) to rate comments. These ratings do not effect the status of a comment.
