On Our Watch: Under Color of Law
One of the first police shootings to be captured on cell phone, millions saw Bay Area Rapid Transit police Officer Johannes Mehserle fire a single, fatal gunshot into Oscar Grant's back as the 22-year-old lay face down on the train station platform. Now, a lawsuit filed by NPR member station KQED has forced BART to comply with California's 2019 police transparency law, and release never-before-heard tapes from inside that investigation.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
9 Juli 20211h 5min
On Our Watch: The Brady Rule
Fellow officers long suspected a veteran detective in Antioch, Calif., was leaking operational police secrets to a drug dealer. For years, the department didn't act on their concerns. Even after the detective was finally fired in 2017, his record remained secret. In episode six of On Our Watch we look at the incentives departments have to investigate dishonest cops and what the secrecy around police misconduct means for criminal defendants who are prosecuted on their testimony.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
2 Juli 202140min
On Our Watch: Neglect of Duty
An officer is repeatedly disciplined for not turning in his police reports on time. A mom goes to the police asking for help with her missing daughters. In the fifth episode of On Our Watch, we look at what can happen when police don't follow through on reports of victimization, and an accountability process that doesn't want to examine those failures.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
25 Juni 202152min
On Our Watch: Perceived Threat
A 16-year-old Black kid walks into a gas station in Stockton, Calif. to buy gummy worms for his little sister. When the teen gets in an argument with the clerk over a damaged dollar bill, a white officer in plainclothes decides to intervene — with force. In the fourth episode of On Our Watch, we trace the ripple effects of this incident over the next 10 years in a department trying to address racism and bias. But can the chief's efforts at truth and reconciliation work when the accountability process seems to ignore the truth?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
18 Juni 202148min
On Our Watch: 20-20 Hindsight
After his son is shot and killed by a Richmond, Calif. police officer, a father looking for answers becomes a police transparency advocate. When the files about his son's death are released, they show an accountability system that seems to hang on one question: did the officer fear for their life? And in a rare interview, we hear from the officer who pulled the trigger.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
11 Juni 202153min
On Our Watch: Conduct Unbecoming
A police officer in Los Angeles told women he'd let their cars pass inspection if they had sex with him. In the San Francisco, Bay Area, another woman says an officer used police resources to harass and stalk her. The California Highway Patrol quietly fired both men for sexual harassment, but never looked into whether their misconduct was criminal. The second episode of the NPR series On Our Watch examines the system of accountability for officers who abuse their power for sex and exposes where that system falls short.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
4 Juni 202148min
On Our Watch: In Good Faith
In the small Northern California town of Rio Vista, a woman named Katheryn Jenks calls 911 for help. But after the police arrive, she ends up injured and inside a jail cell, facing serious charges. That same day, California Governor Jerry Brown signs a new law, State Senate Bill 1421, that opens up long hidden records of police misconduct, including files that might change the outcome of Jenks' case. This story is from the new NPR series, On Our Watch.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
28 Maj 202149min
Capital Gazette: "We Are The Newsroom"
Part 4: In our final episode, the Capital Gazette is swept up in the troubles of the newspaper industry. Its corporate owners are making painful cuts, and a hedge fund with an ominous reputation seeks control. Staff members, who survived the 2018 shooting and kept the Capital going, wonder if the paper can last.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
11 Mars 202130min
