Nashville Police Lab Clears Sexual Assault Kit Backlog With New Staff and Grants
Metro Nashville officials project the city will clear its backlog of untested evidence by year's end, aided by federal funding and a fully staffed DNA unit.
By David Marshall ·
For more than a decade, sexual assault kits in Nashville sat untested in a city crime lab that struggled with staffing shortages. That dynamic is shifting. Metro Nashville Police Department officials state the backlog is on track to be cleared by the end of 2026.
Amanda Sweet, director of the MNPD Crime Lab, confirmed that all sexual assault kits older than 30 days are currently in the testing process. The department achieved this by outsourcing overdue cases to private laboratories, a strategy funded by grants from the Department of Justice and local groups such as the Nashville Police and Public Safety Alliance. Sweet noted that while the line is moving, the private lab’s turnaround time can still take several months in some instances.
“At least we’re working through the cases,” Sweet said. “They’re not just sitting waiting on testing.”
The lab is also addressing the root cause of the delay: understaffing. The MNPD opened its crime lab in 2015, becoming the only municipal lab in Tennessee outside of the three run by the state’s Bureau of Investigation. It immediately absorbed a large volume of untested kits. Sweet said five new forensic scientists finished their training earlier this year, allowing the lab to fully staff its Forensic Biology DNA Unit. Starting in 2027, the lab expects to process new cases as they arrive for the first time since its opening.
Training new forensic scientists is a lengthy process that takes at least 18 months. “Once you hire new people you’re still a couple of years out from them being able to work cases independently,” Sweet explained. This delay contributed to a backlog that grew further when the Sexual Assault Center opened its SAFE Clinic in September 2018. Rachel Freeman, president of the SAC, told the Banner that the clinic doubled the number of exams provided in Nashville in its first year. While patients at the clinic are not required to report to police, Freeman said nearly 70 percent of their clients do, compared to a national average of 28 to 32 percent.
The volume of new evidence remains high. In fiscal year 2026, which ended in June, the SAFE Clinic provided 166 exams. Area hospitals, including Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Metro Nashville General Hospital, conducted additional tests. According to recent MNPD data, 533 rapes were reported in Nashville so far this year, a slight increase from the same period last year.
Freeman said that while survivors previously waited up to two years for results, kits should now be tested within three to four months. Sweet added that even when outside labs perform the initial testing, the Metro lab still reviews and verifies the results. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation officials have also reported progress in reducing backlogs at their state crime labs.
Sweet said the department has provided the necessary resources in recent years to address the backlog. “We’re in a very good place right now,” she said.
