Last week, the Phoenix City Council approved more than $3 million in spending for the Phoenix Police Department to be able to work through its backlog of sexual assault testing kits. 

The spending allows the department to outsource testing to three different companies.

The department has blamed the backlog of 822 kits on staffing shortages that worsened during the pandemic.

Expanding its outsourcing has pushed the department to set a goal of working through about 300 kits through the month of September.

Phoenix police spokesperson Sgt. Robert Scherer says the department hired eight new DNA analysts this week, but that it will still take a while to get caught up.

“To get ahead of the slog. Even more, we're expecting 12-plus months to get to that number, that 822, down to that manageable range, which usually is around 100-150. And then that's where that revolving element goes through where we're staying ahead of that curve," Scherer said. 

Scherer added the department has modified its DNA analyst training to speed up some aspects, but that it still takes two years to complete.