How the NYPD’s Troubled Sex Crimes Unit Is Set Up To Fail Victims Former top cops say a culture of neglect at the NYPD has left inexperienced and poorly trained officers in charge of some of the department’s most sensitive cases. Meg O'Connor Dec 15, 2021
How Policing Is Shaping the Pittsburgh Mayoral Race Incumbent Bill Peduto’s policing record is under scrutiny after protests last summer. He is facing what may be his most competitive race yet. Joshua Vaughn Apr 27, 2021
Rochester Police Tackle and Pepper-Spray Woman With 3-Year-Old Child It is the latest incident of violence from a police department already under fire for pepper-spraying a 9-year-old girl and fatally injuring Daniel Prude. Meg O'Connor Mar 05, 2021
Philly Cops Are Solving Fewer Homicides. The City Keeps Paying Them Millions Community members and advocates question why Mayor Jim Kenney and the City Council continue to fund the police department at record levels, despite the department’s low murder solve rate. Joshua Vaughn Mar 01, 2021
No Criminal Charges for Cops Involved in Daniel Prude’s Death New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced today that a grand jury voted not to indict any police officers on charges related to the death of Daniel Prude. Meg O'Connor Feb 23, 2021
‘Basically Cyberbullying’: How Cops Abuse Social Media to Publicly Humiliate Law enforcement agencies are creating online content, often at the expense of people they have arrested. Hope Corrigan Dec 21, 2020
The Limitations of Police ‘No Chase’ Policies Two moped riders were left dead or injured after recent police pursuits in Washington, D.C., and Providence, Rhode Island. Ella Fassler Dec 02, 2020
How One Race Could Change Police Accountability in Arizona Incumbent Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel is backed by police unions and has declined to charge officers in high-profile killings. Challenger Julie Gunnigle says she wants to create an independent unit to review police use-of-force cases. Meg O'Connor Oct 23, 2020
It’s Time To Form A Community-Led Citizen Review Board For The Cedar Rapids Police Now is the time to act. If we have learned anything since George Floyd’s death, it is that we cannot keep waiting for change. Stacey Walker, Maria Hawilo Sep 14, 2020
Highway Stop-And-Frisk: How Pennsylvania State Troopers Conduct Illegal Traffic Searches A review of five years of cases that arose from traffic stops in the south-central region of the state shows that police used underhand tactics to justify holding and searching drivers illegally. Joseph Darius Jaafari, Joshua Vaughn Aug 31, 2020
Officers Involved In Notorious Wrongful Conviction Aren’t On Prosecutor’s Do-Not-Call List A state investigation found that Detroit police officers fabricated evidence that helped convict a 14-year-old boy. A judge threw out his conviction after he spent nine years in prison, but the officers are still on the job and haven’t been flagged as unreliable to testify in court. Kira Lerner Aug 19, 2020
Impunity for Law Enforcement Must End. That Includes Officers in Jails and Prisons. Qualified immunity is just one obstacle of many that incarcerated people face when seeking to hold correctional officers accountable for misconduct. Joshua Manson Jul 23, 2020
10 Ways To Reduce Our Reliance On Policing And Make Our Communities Safer For Everyone Police should no longer occupy all of our vital support systems in our communities. Alex S. Vitale Jul 20, 2020
Jacklean Davis Was The First Black Woman To Serve As a Homicide Detective in New Orleans. Did A Now Disbarred Prosecutor Bring About Her Fall? In the 1990s, Davis was a policing superstar, hailed as the best crime solver the Crescent City had ever seen. But a dispute over a paid detail at a festival turned into a major federal case against her, brought by a prosecutor involved whose conduct in other cases was called ‘grotesque.’ Ethan Brown Jul 01, 2020
Activists Say Chicago Mayor’s Police Reform Promises Ring Hollow Mayor Lori Lightfoot has hampered the process of installing a police oversight council, activists say, despite making it a major part of her public safety platform during her mayoral run. Maya Dukmasova Jun 23, 2020
New York Protests Could Finally Push Through Increased Police Transparency Lawmakers are targeting a statute that has been used as a cudgel to bat away almost any inquiries into police misconduct. Chris Gelardi Jun 04, 2020
Justice in America Episode 21: Police Accountability Josie Duffy and co-host Darnell Moore discuss police accountability and explain why it’s so hard for the criminal justice system to hold police accountable. Feb 26, 2020
Baltimore Defense Attorneys Claim Surveillance Plane Footage Contradicts Law Enforcement Account Of Police Shooting Jawan Richards was shot by Baltimore police and hit with gun and assault charges stemming from the incident. His defense attorneys now say video evidence may exonerate their client. Brandon Soderberg Feb 13, 2020
New Video Of Fatal Shooting By NYPD In 2016 Raises Questions About Officer’s Account to Investigators A civil suit claims that an officer who shot a 46-year-old stagehand in Midtown Manhattan should have de-escalated the encounter. Jon Campbell Feb 07, 2020
In Erie County, Jail Deaths Continue Despite High-Profile Tragedy The death of 27-year-old India Cummings in 2016 garnered national media attention and a renewed push by local activists over conditions of confinement in the New York county’s jails. But the deaths haven’t stopped. Raina Lipsitz Jan 16, 2020
‘They Can Do This To Anybody’ Misconduct complaints against officers in the NYPD’s 34th Precinct have risen for three years straight. In 2018, 15 officers had complaints against them substantiated, the most of any precinct in New York City. Ali Winston Dec 19, 2019
New Lawsuit Alleges Abuse At ‘One Of The Worst’ County Jails In America Officers at the Cuyahoga County Jail in Ohio are accused of pepper-spraying and assaulting a man for merely asking about his release date. Joshua Vaughn Dec 12, 2019
Community Policing Is Not the Answer Investing billions of government dollars into programs that embed police in Black communities will not reduce police violence, nor repair years of injustice. Philip V. McHarris Dec 02, 2019
Longtime Louisiana Prisoner Who Maintained Her Innocence Dies Less Than Two Years After Her Release The poor healthcare that Bobbie Jean Johnson received during her more than 40 years in prison contributed to her death, family members say. Roxanna Asgarian Nov 25, 2019
New York City Voters May Expand Power of Civilian Review Board, Allowing It to Investigate Police Who Lie If passed, Question 2 would also allow the board to force police commissioners to provide more insight into disciplinary decisions. Aaron Morrison Nov 05, 2019
New York Subway Police Make Us Less Safe Recent violent arrests in the city subways should make New Yorkers question the push by Governor Andrew Cuomo and the MTA to hire 500 new transit police. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
San Francisco Police Brutality Claim Puts Pressure on Next D.A. to Hold Cops Accountable Ahead of the city’s district attorney election on Tuesday, the alleged baton beating last month of Dacari Spiers has renewed debate over police accountability. Darwin BondGraham Nov 01, 2019
‘A Green Light For Abuse’: Despite Reforms, California Counties Still Conceal Records On Police Use Of Force A lawsuit in Los Angeles and a motion in Orange County highlight battles to get key information. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Oct 31, 2019
California Court Destroys Files In Historic Police Corruption Case Criminal case files from Oakland’s seminal Riders scandal were among documents shredded by the Alameda County Superior Court in 2015. Ali Winston, Darwin BondGraham Oct 30, 2019
Five Oakland Police Officers Involved In Fatal Shooting Of Homeless Man Seek Reinstatement The officers who killed Joshua Pawlik in 2018 are asking a state judge to block a federally appointed monitor’s decision that they violated policies on use of force. Darwin BondGraham Oct 16, 2019
New Lawsuit Focuses On Alleged L.A. County Deputy ‘Gangs’ Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva was elected on the promise of reforming the scandal-plagued sheriff’s department. But eight deputies now accuse Sheriff Villanueva of allowing a violent group, the Banditos, to thrive in his department's ranks. Ali Winston Oct 10, 2019
Amber Guyger Should Not Go To Prison The former Dallas police officer should be held accountable for killing Botham Jean, but sending her to prison does not keep us safe. Elisabeth Epps Oct 07, 2019
An Alabama Man Faces The Death Penalty For Two Murders. Could The Police Be Involved? In March, Coley McCraney was arrested and charged with capital murder in the 1999 killings of two teenage girls. But his attorneys say he’s innocent, and are now seeking information related to alleged police involvement in the homicides. Lauren Gill Oct 01, 2019
When Prosecutors Bury Police Lies Court records and interviews with former prosecutors show that internal assessments of police dishonesty are rarely memorialized, potentially violating the rights of people charged in criminal cases and sometimes keeping the records of bad cops clean. George Joseph, Ali Winston Sep 17, 2019
‘No Knock’ Warrants Spur Wave Of Civil Rights Lawsuits In Little Rock Police are accused of lying to obtain the warrants to conduct military-style raids on the homes of poor people and people of color. Joshua Vaughn Sep 06, 2019
A Pennsylvania Police Department Is Accused Of Klan Involvement and Discrimination In a civil rights lawsuit, an officer in Allentown claims he was subjected to racial discrimination before he was fired. Joshua Vaughn Aug 29, 2019
‘Is This The Guy?’ Police and prosecutors claimed facial recognition technology wasn’t at the center of a shoplifting case, but defense attorneys say it was the sole basis for probable cause to arrest. Mike Hayes
A New Mexico Man Accused a Deputy of ‘Gestapo’-like Training. Then He Was Arrested. In Valencia County, a sheriff’s deputy who once faced allegations of excessive force in Albuquerque is accused of assaulting an elderly man. Joshua Vaughn Aug 16, 2019
Oakland Police Have Been Systematically Underreporting Use Of Force A new internal audit shows that officers disproportionately strike, tussle with, and draw guns on Black people but then fail to disclose the incidents in their reports. Darwin BondGraham Aug 12, 2019
‘See How Quickly They Behave Once We Put Our Foot Down?’ A federal lawsuit claims that Palo Alto, California, police falsely detained, arrested, and beat a gay Latinx man—then boasted about their brutality. Joshua Vaughn Aug 08, 2019
For New York’s Police Union, Any Accountability For Eric Garner’s Death Is Too Much Vaidya Gullapalli Aug 05, 2019
My Year As A New Orleans Consent Decree Insider The Crescent City is in the final stages of a multimillion-dollar federal police reform process. Here‘s why it and other programs like it fail to achieve real reform. Matthew Nesvet Jul 30, 2019
‘We’ve Got One In The Sweep’ Three Bronx friends recount their 2012 arrests in the NYPD’s ‘Operation Crew Cut,’ along with their experiences with the court system and incarceration, and reflect on their lives seven years later. Olivia Heffernan
When Cops Lie, Should Prosecutors Rely Upon Their Testimony At Trial? In California, Texas and Florida, advocates sent letters to district attorneys, demanding that they refuse to work with officers with histories of misconduct. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jul 29, 2019
Media Frame: Stop Quoting Bill Bratton For far too long, the press has leaned on wrong-headed tough-on-crime officials like the former NYPD commissioner when reporting on the criminal legal system. Jonathan Ben-Menachem Jul 22, 2019
Oakland Police Conducted An Illegal Search And Then Lied About It. But They May Be Spared From Discipline. A California Superior Court ruling gives officers accused of misconduct access to investigator notes and files while cases are in progress. Darwin BondGraham Jul 17, 2019
‘A Town Without Pity’: Lawsuits Allege Police Cover-up of Sex Abuse by Officers in Maine The accusations span decades and involve two separate Biddeford cops and at least seven alleged victims. Roxanna Asgarian Jul 01, 2019
Pennsylvania Police Department Accused of Sexism Brandi Courtesis lost her job with the Gettysburg force after saying a colleague sexually harassed her. The accused, fired for another reason, may be back in uniform soon. Joshua Vaughn Jun 27, 2019
Fremont Police Said a Man Wielded a Deadly Weapon When They Shot Him. But Records Reveal He Waved a Tent Pole. The police union’s newly elected vice president led the investigation into the shooting that cleared Officer William Gourley of any wrongdoing. Darwin BondGraham Jun 21, 2019
Spotlight: When Police Spread Racism and Hate Online, It Says Something About How They Work Vaidya Gullapalli Jun 19, 2019
Floridians Are Suing a Cop Fired for Planting Drugs in Their Vehicles Thanks to the diligence of one assistant state attorney, 119 cases were thrown out and the officer is under state investigation. Katie Rose Quandt Jun 17, 2019
Body Cameras And Tasers Rake In Billions For Axon, But They’re No Panacea For Police Violence The popularity of Axon’s tech soared after the police killing of Michael Brown in 2014, but it may be doing more harm than good in protecting people from excessive force. Jonathan Ben-Menachem Jun 10, 2019
Notorious Jailhouse Informant Case Resurfaces as New Orleans D.A. Race Nears DA Leon Cannizzarro used jailhouse informant Ronnie Morgan to convict a man in the killing of five teenagers, but the case was overturned. Now, Morgan is petitioning for a prison transfer, reviving the murder case. Lauren Gill May 24, 2019
Commander Of Major California Narcotics Task Force Fired For A String Of Thefts And Lies Newly released records show that task force members faced allegations of theft and questionable overtime, all under the watch of a commander later fired for lying as the misconduct was investigated. Darwin BondGraham May 23, 2019
Bronx Cops Celebrated A Copwatcher’s Arrest. They Had No Idea They Were Caught On Tape. New York City just paid Jose LaSalle of the Copwatch Patrol Unit nearly $900,000 over claims of false arrest related to the 2016 incident, but his fight for justice is far from over. Ashoka Jegroo May 09, 2019
Police In California Are Killing Sleeping People The fatal shooting by Oakland police of an unconscious man as he woke is putting pressure on the California department to rethink its deployment of force. Darwin BondGraham May 02, 2019
Houston Cop Who Led Botched Drug Raid Overwhelmingly Arrested Black People After a drug bust involving Houston narcotics officer Gerald Goines turned deadly, questions are being raised about how he operated during his time on the force. Mike Hayes Apr 23, 2019
‘It Was Almost Worse Than The Incident Itself’ New NYPD data show that in 2018 the department closed nearly 500 rape cases due to an alleged lack of participation from victims and had a declining clearance rate for rape, raising questions over its handling of sexual assault. Meg O'Connor
California Cities Have Shredded Decades of Police Misconduct Records Police union lawsuits delayed many local governments from complying with a new transparency law. In the meantime, some cities have destroyed files. Darwin BondGraham Apr 17, 2019
‘Please Help Me, Sir’ In September, Marcus Smith experienced a mental health crisis and begged Greensboro, North Carolina police for help. Instead, they tied him with restraints. Moments later, his body went lifeless. William C. Anderson Apr 09, 2019
Did Baltimore Cops ‘Conspire’ To Suppress Evidence, Leading to a Wrongful Murder Conviction? Attorneys for a man exonerated in a Baltimore murder say detectives suppressed exculpatory evidence and that the police’s homicide unit has a pattern and practice of similar conduct in decades of cases. Amelia McDonell-Parry Apr 02, 2019
Black Mississippians Say Sheriff’s Office Deputies ‘Terrorize The Community Like A Gang Would’ Attorneys and advocates call for change in Madison County after the deaths of three Black people at its jail and because of what they allege is a system of roadblocks targeting Black residents. Aaron Morrison Mar 27, 2019
Florida Woman Faced 10 Years For ‘Meth’ That Was ‘Just a Rock’ A scandal of falsified drug arrests is spreading at a Florida sheriff’s office that has also spent more than $1.33 million settling excessive force lawsuits and is at the center of the increasingly troubled Robert Kraft case. Meg O'Connor Mar 26, 2019
Albany Police Shot a Teen in the Back and Paralyzed Him. The D.A. Said It Was Justified. Activists suspect the investigation was tainted by the close relationship between the police and prosecutors. Aaron Morrison Mar 22, 2019
Women Say Pennsylvania Cop Committed Sexual Assaults, Recorded Them on Body Camera Their claims are part of a federal lawsuit; other women say they, too, were assaulted and the officer now faces a raft of criminal charges. Joshua Vaughn Mar 19, 2019
Miami Police Arrest Thousands of Homeless But Leave Rapes, Robberies Unsolved In 2017, over 2,000 homeless people were arrested on charges including drinking in public and panhandling. That same year, roughly 1,400 people were arrested in Miami-Dade County for rape, murder, and robbery. Meg O'Connor Mar 18, 2019
‘I’m Not Going Anywhere Until They Stop Killing People’ In 2009, Anaheim police shot and killed Theresa Smith’s son. A new California law promises police transparency, but her quest for answers faces a substantial cost. Aaron Morrison Mar 13, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Mayor of Jackson Faces Uphill Battle for Police Accountability With Appeal contributor Ko Bragg Adam H. Johnson Feb 28, 2019
Chicago Cop’s Sentence For Killing A Black Teenager Is ‘Exceptionally Short’ Jason Van Dyke’s sentence for the 2014 murder of Laquan McDonald is approximately half the average sentence for a person convicted of second-degree murder in Cook County, Illinois. Rob Arthur Feb 25, 2019
Inside ‘The Stop-And-Frisk Capital of America’ Claims including sexual assault of a woman with mental illness to lying in reports haunt the Miami Gardens police; payouts in federal lawsuits have cost the city's taxpayers at least $3.5 million. Meg O'Connor Feb 21, 2019
The Mayor of Jackson Wants to Hold Its Police Accountable. Easier Said Than Done. Since Chokwe Antar Lumumba’s 2017 election, at least five people have died at the hands of the law enforcement in Mississippi’s capital city. Ko Bragg Feb 20, 2019
California Police Unions Fight New State Law Promising Transparency on Misconduct Records Senate Bill 1421 requires law enforcement agencies to make public investigative records of officer-involved shootings and uses of force resulting in great bodily harm. But law enforcement unions argue that the law threatens the privacy of their members. Darwin BondGraham
The Appeal Podcast: How Police Unions Are Fighting California’s New Transparency Law With Appeal contributor Darwin BondGraham Adam H. Johnson Feb 14, 2019
Police Policy for Sale Lexipol, a private for-profit company, has quietly become one of the most powerful voices in law enforcement policymaking in the country. Scott Morris Feb 13, 2019
Family of Donna Dalton, Who Was Shot By a Columbus Police Officer During Arrest, Demands Independent Inquiry Advocates say the case hasn’t been handled fairly and there’s little hope for justice. Melissa Gira Grant Feb 01, 2019
New Study Finds Body Cameras Aren’t Objective Witnesses People who view body cam footage of an incident are less likely to attribute blame to a police officer than those who see the same incident through the lens of a dashboard camera. Nicole Wetsman Jan 29, 2019
St. Louis County Is Profiting Off the ‘Muni Shuffle’ Long After Ferguson Protests A new proposal to abolish small police forces seeks to end the cycle of debt and incarceration. Teresa Mathew Jan 18, 2019
New Jersey Cop Sued Over Shooting Ranks First in His Department for Use of Force Officer Sheehan Miles of the Trenton Police Department had 43 force encounters between 2012 and 2016, according to a new database. George Joseph Dec 19, 2018
Baltimore’s ‘Eye in the Sky’ Plane Is Back With A New Pitch: Surveil The Police Dismal police accountability has made communities vulnerable to private vendors. Brandon Soderberg, Raven Rakia Oct 26, 2018
The Appeal Podcast: Why Police Accountability is as Elusive as Ever With Appeal staff reporter George Joseph. Adam H. Johnson Sep 27, 2018
Just 6% of Columbus Police Officers Account for Half of All Force Reports Between 2001 and 2017, the department justified officers in 99 percent of use-of-force cases, according to data released through a public records request. Ethan Corey, George Joseph Sep 13, 2018
Columbus Officer Was Under Investigation When He Shot and Killed Donna Dalton Community outrage mounts over Officer Andrew Mitchell’s killing of Dalton during an attempted prostitution arrest. Melissa Gira Grant Aug 30, 2018
Doxxed By Berkeley Police Critics say the Berkeley Police Department’s unusual practice of posting anti-fascist protesters’ mugshots on Twitter endangers activists and violates free speech rights. Scott Morris Aug 24, 2018
St. Louis County Could Oust The Prosecutor Who Helped Ignite Ferguson Protests His opponent in Tuesday’s primary helped establish new police accountability and court reforms in Ferguson after the police shooting of Michael Brown. Amanda Sakuma Aug 06, 2018
NYPD Detective With a Shady Past Helped Lock Up a Pot Dealer For Federal Conspiracy Jurors were barred from hearing about the eight civil rights lawsuits against Detective Jeremiah Williams. George Joseph Jul 24, 2018
Lawsuit Tests the Supreme Court’s ‘Immunity Protection Program’ for Police Officers Who Kill Kyle C. Barry May 25, 2018
Chicago Activists Organize Against Massive Police Training Academy to Be Built As Schools Close Prince Shakur Apr 13, 2018
Columbus Activists Turn Out to Support ‘Black Pride 4’ Protesters During Sentencing Prince Shakur Mar 15, 2018
In Portland, A Mother Sues For Answers About Why The Police Killed Her Son Max Rivlin-Nadler Feb 14, 2018
