New York City is deploying two new techniques to help victims of sexual assault, Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday at a press conference at a Bronx hospital.

Law enforcement officials will be given “Suspect Evidence Collection Kits,” allowing them to collect evidence from the bodies of suspects in sexual assault cases. Additionally, victims will now have the option of being taken to hospitals specializing in sexual assault, as opposed to simply being taken to the nearest hospital.

Typically, evidence in sexual assault cases is collected from two sources: crime scenes and the bodies of the victims. The kits, which are already used in a handful of other jurisdictions across the country, will give investigators a “third crime scene,” Mr. Bloomberg said: the bodies of the suspects.

The kits can only be used with the consent of the suspects, or by a court order.

These two techniques add to the Bloomberg administration’s larger effort to improve forensic evidence collection in sex crimes. One program, the Sexual Assault Response Team initiative, allowed for 1,641 victims to be seen by specially trained teams within one hour of arriving at hospitals in 2007, according to data provided by the mayor’s office.

“For too long, I think, people have said, ‘Well, this is just something we have to live with,'” Mr. Bloomberg said, in regard to sexual assault. “But it’s not something we have to live with.”