NEW YORK (WXYZ) — A years-long investigation by WXYZ-TV detailing how troubled police officers were able to find new badges throughout Michigan has been honored with the duPont-Columbia Award, the highest honor in broadcast journalism.
FOLLOW OUR YEARS-LONG INVESTIGATION: SHIELDED
The series of reports documented how problem officers were able to find refuge in neighboring departments, frequently leaving scandal, criminal charges and lawsuits in their wake. The reporting was used as a roadmap for new legislation, led the state to suspend officers’ law enforcement licenses and triggered the criminal conviction of another.
At a ceremony Wednesday night on the campus of Columbia University, investigative reporter Ross Jones, video editor Randy Lundquist, photojournalists Johnny Sartin and Ramon Rosario, assistant news director Ronnie Love, station manager and news director Tim Kochenderfer, and regional vice president and general manager Mike Murri were honored for the station’s reporting.
The award was presented by 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley and NPR host Michel Martin.
Across 19 reports, WXYZ’s “Shielded” investigation showed how departments across Michigan frequently failed to follow rules meant to prevent problem officers from finding new badges.
The hires exposed by the station included officers found by their own departments to have physically abused citizens, engaged in sexual relations with suspects, used racist language recorded on dashcam video or been untruthful.
Related Story: Highland Park hid his first violent tasing. Then, he was charged over another.
In one example, the station showed how a Highland Park police officer who improperly tased and knocked unconscious a homeless man was given a chance to inflict new pain nearby.
Officials in Highland Park concealed the officer's abuse, allowing him to join the Warren Police Department where he would go on to be criminally charged and ultimately convicted for a nearly identical tasing that cost taxpayers a $400,000 settlement.
Following WXYZ's reports, the Wayne County Prosecutor would charge the officer over his 2020 tasing in Highland Park. He would ultimately plead no contest to multiple felonies.
A 2017 Michigan law was supposed to prevent problem officers from ducking accountability by finding new work. Instead, WXYZ’s reporting showed how easily police chiefs ignored it without facing penalties.
The station’s investigation documented how some departments withheld damaging information from an officer’s past when prospective agencies came knocking.
In other instances, understaffed agencies hired officers without performing even cursory background checks or understanding why their last department fired them in the first place. In all of the cases, state watchdogs never noticed.
Senators Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) and Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) hailed the investigation’s findings and, in November 2024, introduced a package of bills intended to close the regulatory holes WXYZ’s reporting exposed.
Lawmakers cited WXYZ’s reporting during Senate hearings and the legislation is currently pending in the Michigan Senate. The legislation is currently stalled in Lansing following the objection of some police organizations.
The Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police distributed the station’s reports to its members, warning them that if they didn’t follow the laws on the books, the next story might be about them.
WXYZ's latest duPont-Columbia Award marks the station's third. WXYZ-TV is the only commercial television station in Detroit to have been honored with a duPont.
The station was previously named a finalist for the honor in 2023 for another investigation into police misconduct, and previously won the award in 2013 and 1996.
