Schools fail to report all crime

An investigation by the Charlotte Observer has found that a lot more violent and threatening behavior takes place in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools than officials disclose in the state's public report on crime. Observer reporters Lisa Hammersly Munn, Liz Chandler, Melissa Manware and Peter Smolowitz, along with database reporter Adam Bell, used school and police records and databases to reveal thousands of incidents of crime, violence and threatening acts that the state doesn't require for its report and that
aren't disclosed to parents. Also, the newspaper found that CMS failed to
disclose some crimes the state report requires. The investigation includes a downloadable school violence report and school violence charts.

James M. O'Neill of The Dallas Morning News used documents and court records to show that Dallas County Jail's new Adult Information System has resulted in "at least 40 cases in which defendants were imprisoned too long after the launch of AIS. Some officials say the total number is far higher." The $3 million system, launched in late January, fouled up the jail's booking process for more than a week: "Lists of new inmates produced by the county's old mainframe could no longer be produced, wreaking havoc with court officials' ability to know who was in jail and to set inmates' court dates."

Kirk Mitchell and Sean Kelly of The Denver Post investigated Colorado's system for notifying communities about sexually violent offenders, finding that "since a state law went into effect in 1999, Colorado has labeled only two men not in prison as sexually violent predators, even though more than 1,300 sex offenders met the initial criteria to be labeled predators." The state corrections department began performing evaluations only after the paper began its inquiry.

Alan Gustafson and Shawn Day of the Salem, Ore., Statesman Journal analyze Oregon University System's handling of sexual harassment. They found that the system lacks "data on the extent to which sexual harassment is happening on Oregon campuses." The university system also fails to inform students on the proper way to file a complaint.

Eunice Trotter, Tom Spalding and Mark Nichols of The Indianapolis Star built a database of reports on police chases, showing that "police are virtually unrestricted when they chase suspects. They pursue fleeing vehicles at high speeds and usually for traffic infractions." One of five chases resulted in an injury or death, and state police chases averaged 88 mph. The paper analyzed records from nearly 1,000 chases in 2003 and 2004.

Norman Sinclair, Melvin Claxton and Ronald J. Hansen of The Detroit News report that "Michigan lawmakers and prison officials have stymied investigations of sexual abuse in women's prisons, stifled inmate complaints and stripped away the rights of assaulted prisoners to sue for damages." Ten years after federal officials highlighted a problem with assaults of female inmates by guards, the number of complaints has risen slightly. Some of those complaints "have lingered for months and even years, while others were closed within days without talking to crucial witnesses or the Corrections employee accused." Michigan's Corrections Department also "has left staffers with criminal backgrounds or multiple complaints of sexual abuse on the job for years."

Amanda J. Crawford and Ryan Konig of The Arizona Republic analyzed state records on clemency, finding that "the number of inmates recommended to the governor for shortened prison terms by the Board of Executive Clemency has skyrocketed" during the past 10 years. "But in the vast majority of cases, even in those where the trial judge agrees with the board that a sentence is too long, the governor has rejected the board's recommendations." Arizona "has more people per capita in prison than any other Western state, tougher sentencing laws than most states and no parole."

Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle reports on why many criminals with outstanding misdemeanor warrants don't have to worry about going to jail. The KIRO-Seattle investigative team analyzed 145,000 active misdemeanor warrants in Washington. They found "a growing number of cities and counties ... don't want to pay for the cost of jail time or transportation of a criminal with a misdemeanor warrant. Instead, they routinely tell the deputy to let the criminal go right there on the spot."

Christine Hanley of the Los Angeles Times reports on an Orange County Sheriff who deputized friends, family and political supporters. "Of the original 86 reserve deputies, 29 had contributed to Carona's inaugural election campaign in 1998 and his re-election campaign in 2002." The Times used hundreds of documents received through public records requests and provided by other sources, along with interviews to uncover the appointments, which were rushed to avoid tougher training requirements.

Gina Barton of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reviewed police records to show that in the past 20 years, no police shooting inquest in Milwaukee County has resulted in criminal charges against an officer. "Inquest jurors never hear from the families of the dead or from their attorneys. There's no cross-examination. The only witnesses are those called by the prosecutors, who critics suggest have a vested interest in clearing shooters because of their relationship with police." The paper found two instances in which an inquest panel did not completely clear officers involved in a shooting.