Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting

I worked at the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting from June 2017 to November 2021, where I reported and hosted the Peabody-nominated podcast, Dig. Season one looked at sexual assault investigations by Louisville Metro Police and season two, reported in the wake of the police killing of Breonna Taylor, examined the police department’s previous failed reform efforts.

The Model City: Inside LMPD’s failure to reform itself: In 2015, Louisville embarked on an ambitious plan to reform its police department. Louisville portrayed itself as a model city that would show the rest of the nation how to maintain public safety while building community relationships and trust. In May 2020, with the protests over the killing of Breonna Taylor, that facade came crumbling down as the nation learned what many in Louisville already knew: LMPD had not meaningfully changed how it policed the city.

Prosecution Declined: This year-long investigation revealed how Louisville police and prosecutors work together to clear the vast majority of rape cases, not with an arrest, but with a special designation: “cleared by exception, prosecution declined.” Most victims are never told their cases are closed, leaving some waiting for justice that will never come. This reporting also took the form of season one of Dig, KyCIR’s podcast, which I scripted and helped produce, and a segment on Reveal. After this story published, the Louisville Metro Council held a hearing where police promised major reforms.

Fatal Flaws: How Kentucky Is Failing Its Workers: I was the lead reporter on this six-month investigation into shortcomings at Kentucky’s OSHA agency. Since the series published (and aired nationally), the state has promised significant reforms. This series won first place for consumer reporting from the Association of Health Care Journalists, a Green Eyeshade award for investigative reporting, and was a finalist for an IRE award.

Kentucky’s Female Corrections Officers Say Sexual Harassment Is Part Of The Job: Though corrections employees make up only 15 percent of the state workforce, they account for 50 percent of all sexual harassment complaints. This story, which also aired nationally, highlighted female prison guards that fear their coworkers more than the inmates.

International Talent, Questions Follow Louisville’s Newest Basketball Academy

Neo-Nazis In The Neighborhood: White supremacy groups have long called Kentucky and the region home. This series examines the state of hate in Kentucky and Appalachia.

Years Later, A Kentucky Hate Crime Still Reverberates: Nearly 15 years after Kentucky’s last federal hate crime prosecution, the decision to burn a cross in a black family’s yard continues to haunt the perpetrator, even as the victims have found peace.