Crime
Putting a face on human trafficking
As officials try to raise awareness about the existence of people who have been trafficked, a Seattle woman tells her unusual story. Her mother’s family was victimized by her father, a Ph.D. and concert violinist who worked with the U.N.
Read MoreATF’s Milwaukee ‘Fearless’ storefront had little to ward off burglars
“And who would imagine the thieves would have unfettered access to the place for three days, propping open the door with a shoe and returning the next day with a moving truck to finish the job?” the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.
Read MoreRaked Over the Coals
Investigative Reporter Wendy Halloran exposed unethical conduct by members of the Phoenix Fire Department’s Fire Investigations Unit. Arson investigators are caught trying to manipulate the arson dog while investigating a house fire. The Phoenix Fire Department boasts the highest arson clearance rates in the country. Did they arrest a woman for arson with faked evidence?…
Read MoreWashington police departments sold seized firearms
In its continuing series of investigative reports on gun crimes, Seattle’s KING TV found that police departments have not only been taking firearms off the streets with gun buyback events – some departments have been putting more firearms into circulation.
Read MoreATF storefront sting led to thousands of dollars stolen and a machine gun on the streets
In an attempt to bust criminal operations in Milwaukee by purchasing drugs and guns from felons the ATF set up a storefront sting. However, “the effort to date has not snared any major dealers or taken down a gang. Instead, it resulted in a string of mistakes and failures, including an ATF military-style machine gun…
Read MoreUSA Today investigation prompts review, potentially freeing wrongly imprisoned
U.S. Justice Department review, triggered by a USA Today investigation, has identified 175 prisoners who must be released or resentenced because they were improperly imprisoned. In June, USA Today reported that those prisoners should not have been imprisoned because they had not committed a federal crime, and others received longer sentences than the law allows.
Read MoreExtra Extra Monday: Several enterprise stories tackle gun control issues
The Washington PostReview of FBI forensics does not extend to federally trained state, local examinersThe Washington Post reports that thousands of criminal cases at the state and local level may have relied on exaggerated testimony or false forensic evidence to convict defendants of murder, rape and other felonies, according to former FBI agents. The Journal…
Read MoreCalifornia police ignored, mishandled sex assaults reported by disabled
In three dozen cases of developmentally disabled patients accusing caretakers of rape and molestation during the past four years, police failed to complete even the simplest tasks associated with investigating the alleged crimes, according to a California Watch investigation.
Read MoreTraces reveal leading seller of ‘crime guns’ seized by police
“After a wave of unprecedented gun crime in Seattle during the first half of the year, KING television began a series of investigations into how criminals get their guns. In the latest installment, the KING 5 investigators used federal gun trace records to find the firearms dealer who sold the most guns that ended up…
Read MoreBurglaries misclassified as thefts in Milwaukee despite evidence
A new Journal Sentinel investigation found more than 900 cases that should have been classified as burglaries but were marked as thefts by Milwaukee police since 2006, showing Milwaukee’s crime data problems extend to property crimes. Reporters Ben Poston and John Diedrich found had the cases been properly coded, the tally of burglaries would have been 2.4% higher than reported…
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