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Come Christmas, there will be no backlog of forensic evidence from rape investigations in Salt Lake City.

That's what police Chief Chris Burbank told the City Council on Tuesday.

The news represents a dramatic shift in the way the city's Police Department investigates sex-assault cases.

It comes after months of back and forth between the chief and council on the topic of rape and the low percentage of sex-assault cases that go to trial.

During a tense April 15 work session, Councilman Kyle LaMalfa asked Burbank why his department had not analyzed 788 of 1,001 Code-R kits — or rape kits — containing forensic evidence from reported sex assaults between 2003 and 2011.

Burbank responded then that analyzing evidence in rape kits is not an efficient use of funds or department personnel. In many instances, such evidence is not useful, he said, if a suspect already has been identified.

But the chief told the council Tuesday that state and federal funding made possible the analysis of rape kits that have been in the Police Department's evidence storage.

"I'm very pleased we were able to do that," Burbank said.

Even so, the chief noted that he did not want rape investigations to get higher priority than other violent crimes.

Holly Mullen, executive director of the Rape Recovery Center, said she was "absolutely thrilled" with news Salt Lake City's backlog will be eliminated.

"This is one step in providing stronger justice for rape victims," she said. "The chief correctly said this is just the beginning."

What is happening in Salt Lake City and Utah regarding rape investigations is part of a national movement, Mullen explained. "I'm cautiously optimistic that we are seeing a real sea change in the way we talk about rape, and treat rape victims with more respect and legitimacy."

Many rape-victim advocates, including Mullen, say that analyzing all the Code-R kits would be useful in identifying repeat rapists. In addition, when the kits aren't analyzed, Mullen said, it leaves victims feeling that the justice system has turned its back on them.

Burbank's announcement comes as the council continues to fine-tune a proposed ordinance that would require, among other points, that all Code-R kits be evaluated.

The measure, sponsored by LaMalfa, would take into account police training; processing of forensic data from Code-R kits; funding for the analysis; police reporting on the success rate of such investigations; and more frequent prosecution of suspects.

Debate was touched off earlier this year by findings of Brigham Young University researchers Julie Valentine and Alyssa Lark that only 9 percent of reported rapes in Salt Lake County resulted in criminal charges from 2003 to 2011.