When a police officer beats someone to death or shoots an unarmed motorist or steals drugs from the evidence room, there is often at least one witness: Another cop.
What happens when those officers speak up and report the misconduct?
USA TODAY set out to establish, for the first time, the extent of law enforcement’s blue wall of silence and its impact on the individual officers who have defied it, as well as the communities they police.
After a year fighting for public records and interviewing police officers and victims of misconduct, reporters found an unofficial system of retaliation in departments large and small across the country. Police leaders protect those accused of wrongdoing and then punish the officer who accused them.
USA TODAY is documenting how law enforcement agencies around the country threaten and retaliate against internal whistleblowers who expose misconduct by their fellow officers. If you have a story about that or know someone who does, we want to hear from you.
Take Moses Black, a former officer in Louisiana. He watched a sergeant kick a handcuffed suspect, who then hit his head and went into a seizure. Black reported the sergeant's kick, and his department suspended and then fired Black. Now he fixes air conditioning units in sweltering attics for $19 an hour. “Because I'm telling the truth, that's...
The DOJ said Takahata TN failed to include employees of its foreign affiliates when it applied for a second-draw PPP loan and forgiveness. SCOTT COUNTY, Tenn. — A Scott County company will pay $2.5...