(WMC-TV) - The Memphis Police Department asked for a half-million dollar grant to test more than 2,200 dormant rape kits, but an Action News 5 source says that the number of untested rape kits is upwards 
 
 Thousands of untested rape kits are gathering dust inside the Memphis Police Department. The lawsuit, filed by attorney Robert Spence, alleges Memphis Police Department brass knew Jane Doe’s rape kit – and maybe as many as 15,000 others – were not being tested and that the practice was “ratified by multiple policymakers within the city of Memphis Police Department.” 
 
 “Defendant has a history of discriminating against females,” the lawsuit continues. She was brave enough to share her reaction to the revelation police have increased the number of untested rape kits by a sixfold since originally reported. The administration is also trying to track down a letter reportedly sent by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation that resulted in some rape kits being sent to that state agency. He is putting them in groups of 400 each, with the idea that that is about as many as multiple independent labs can each handle. She pushed Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong for answers, while acknowledging that the problem began long before he became police director.
– An anonymous rape victim has launched a class action lawsuit against Memphis, alleging that it had a policy of disregarding rape kits, either throwing out or simply neglecting some 15,000 of them over a period of decades, Courthouse News reports. Jane Doe says she waited 13 years for police to test the bodily fluids she submitted after a burglar raped her, an experience shared by thousands of other victims. In many cases, the kits spoiled while waiting for testing. The city, the lawsuit alleges, "has a history of discriminating against females," and gave these assaults a lower priority. The suit is asking the court to declare the practice unconstitutional, and to issue an injunction to end it. In November, Memphis publicly admitted that it had 12,113 untested kits in its possession, and said it would cost more than $4.6 million to test them, according to WMCTV. But the lawsuit raises new questions by arguing that this was no accident, Bill Dries at the Memphis Daily News writes. It claims that the city knew about the policy "approved it, condoned it, and/or turned a blind eye to it." The 15,000 estimate is based on the number of sexual assaults reported to third-party agencies over that period. A 2010 report estimated that 180,000 rape kits sat untested nationwide.