IRE Radio Podcast | Killed by the Cops

How many times a year do police kill people? And what happens to officers after they fire a fatal shot? Those were just some of the questions prompted by the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in New York. On this episode of the IRE Radio Podcast we’ll be talking to some of the journalists working to answer those questions.

Here’s the lineup:

• Rob Barry and Coulter Jones walk through how they found and reported on a problem with the FBI’s system for tracking police killings. The story ran in the Wall Street Journal.

• Sarah Ryley, Nolan Hicks and Dareh Gregorian of The New York Daily News discuss their investigation into NYPD-involved deaths.

You can find and download previous podcast episodes on iTunes or our new podcast page.

EPISODE NOTES

Looking for links to the stories, resources and events we discussed on this week's podcast? We've collected them for you.

Part 1: Wall Street Journal

• Wall Street Journal subscribers can read Rob and Coulter's article online.  If you don’t have access, check out the short version posted in front of the paywall. You can also play around with the interactive graphic.
• Learn more about the reporting process in our “Behind the Story” blog post.

Part 2: New York Daily News

• Read the Daily News’ story on NYPD-involved deaths.

Additional resources for IRE members:

• Download a tipsheet on how to accurate and effectively investigate law enforcement agencies and police activities.
• Download a tipsheet on using the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR).
• Learn how to understand different crime statistics - and their shortcomings  - using this tipsheet. This primer includes information on crime stats, clearance rates, response times and conviction rates.
• Listen to Frances Robles, Jodi Upton, Jaxon Van Derbeken and  John Diedrich discuss strategies and story ideas for covering law enforcement.
• Listen to Nate Carlisle, Sally Kestin, Lawrence Mower, and Shawn McIntosh discuss how to uncover criminal conduct among law enforcement using data analysis, open records laws and shoe-leather reporting.