The Appeal Wins Best Investigative Journalism Award at 2022 Nonprofit News Awards

The Appeal was honored to win its first award since its 2021 relaunch as a worker-led nonprofit newsroom. The Appeal’s investigation into the New York Police Department’s Special Victims Division (SVD) won Best Investigative Journalism from the Nonprofit News Awards.

Senior Reporter Meg O’Connor uncovered how officers routinely mistreat sexual assault survivors. The NYPD spent years neglecting serious structural problems affecting SVD. In multiple cases, women were assaulted and children were killed after detectives failed to appropriately investigate reports of rape or abuse. O’Connor also documented staffing issues at SVD, which had filled the unit with officers who had little to no investigative experience and almost no specialized training. 

“The investigation found that structural problems identified in a 2018 report have grown worse at the unit since then, sometimes with deadly consequences for the sex crime and child abuse victims the unit is supposed to serve,” said judges.

Following the investigation, the NYPD transferred the SVD’s commander, Mike King, out of the division. In May 2022, the NYPD commissioner told City Council members that she had introduced a new policy to reduce turnover and promote detectives within the SVD—something our reporting specifically identified as an issue within the division. In June 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the SVD.