Police department plagued by internal discipline problems

Top city officials in Denver are calling for a complete overhaul of the discipline system of the Denver Police Department, reports Christopher N. Osher of The Denver Post. "At least 25 officers remained on the force from January 1997 through September 2006 after they were punished for what the department calls "departure from the truth." In some other police departments, such a complaint, if sustained, can lead to immediate dismissal because it can be used by defense lawyers in criminal cases to challenge an officer's court testimony."

In an ongoing Dallas Morning News investigation, Holly Becka and Jennifer LaFleur found that the private contractors housing juvenile inmates in Texas have lost their contracts in other states after abuse and neglect were discovered. In addition, Steve McGonigle and Doug J. Swanson report that records show U.S Justice Department attorneys have been aware of the horror stories within the Texas juvenile prisons for four years, but they declined to act, citing lack of evidence.

Eric Nalder and Lewis Kamb of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer found "cops confronted with a drunken-driving arrest fare better than the average citizen," according to an investigation of seven years' worth of internal discipline records, arrest reports, accident reports, license-suspension files and court documents from around Washington state. The P-I's findings also determined Washington's police disciplinary system is "broken, illogical and unevenly applied."

A four-part Denver Post investigation found that the loss and destruction of DNA evidence nationwide has stalled the pursuit of justice in thousands of cases, including undermining efforts of prisoners to prove their innocence. In the absence of governmental statistics, reporters Miles Moffeit and Susan Greene compiled data and cases from lawyers and government records across the country to tell the personal stories behind the loss of tiny truth-bearing biological specimens. Included in the package are a series of investigative web documentaries that accompany each segment.

A Chicago Tribune analysis of federal data shows that enforcement efforts in the the war on drugs hits minorities far harder than whites. Darnell Little reports that inner-city dealers are hit much harder than the more discrete dealings in suburban areas. Prison populations also reflect harsher penalties for minorities. Analysis of Chicago's predominantly African-American neighborhoods revealed that "97 percent of East Garfield Park, 99 percent of West Garfield Park, 98 percent of Woodlawn, 96 percent of Englewood and 82 percent of Austin fall within 'safe zones'" — designated areas that are covered by mandatory sentencing rules.

A Dallas Morning News investigation into disciplinary records of employees at state schools for the mentally retarded " found hundreds of cases of abuse at the hands of those charged with caring for the mentally retarded

Inmate overcrowding and the increasing number of staff vacancies in California's prisons are spiking overtime costs for the state's corrections department, which spent more than half a billion dollars last year on overtime pay, according to analysis of payroll records by the San Francisco Chronicle. Tom Chorneau and Todd Wallack report that the surge -- a 35 percent increase from the agency's overtime bill in 2005 -- comes as the department prepares for a major expansion of the prison system. The Chronicle analysis found that almost 15 percent of the department's 56,000-member workforce earned at least $25,000 in overtime in the last calendar year -- more than eight times the amount paid to the average state worker over the same period.

Denver Post reporter Miles Moffeit investigated the "the largely unnoticed months-long battle over DNA testing and evidence preservation" created by efforts to overturn the murder conviction of Tim Masters. The Post will follow up with a four-part series on the loss and destruction of DNA evidence by authorities nationwide and how it's undermined justice for thousands of victims and more than 100 possibly wrongfully convicted prisoners. It's accompanied by documentary footage, including from inside evidence rooms that resemble dumps.

The Salt Lake Tribune's Jeremiah Stettler looked at the rise in use of Tasers by Utah's police force and found that they are increasingly becoming the weapon of choice to subdue aggressive suspects. More than 4,200 Tasers have been distributed to officers in Utah's law enforcement agencies. Anaylsis of 180 cases where Tasers were deployed, showed that they are most frequently used upon those who resist arrest or struggle while in custody; fleeing suspects ranked second.

An investigation by the Gilroy (Calif.) Dispatch led to the arrest of a father and son who operated a tow truck company. The two had filed more than 2,000 small claims lawsuits against people from all over California and were arrested last week for allegedly abusing the small claims court system. Previous Dispatch investigations revealed questionable legal and business practices which ultimately led to the charges leveled against them.