Across the U.S., a haphazard system of lax laws, minimal oversight and almost no accountability puts guns in the hands of security guards who endanger
Ryan Gabrielson
Ryan Gabrielson is a reporter for ProPublica covering the U.S. justice system. In 2013, his stories for the Center for Investigative Reporting on violent crimes at California’s board-and-care institutions for the developmentally disabled were a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Previously, he was a reporter at the East Valley Tribune in Mesa, Ariz. In 2009, he and Tribune colleague Paul Giblin won a Pulitzer Prize for stories that exposed how immigration enforcement by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office undermined investigations and emergency response. Gabrielson's work has received numerous national honors, including two George Polk Awards, an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Silver Baton, the Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting, and a Sigma Delta Chi Award. He was a 2009-2010 investigative reporting fellow at UC Berkeley.
A Phoenix native, Gabrielson studied journalism at the University of Arizona and now lives in Oakland with his wife and two daughters.
Posted inUncategorized
FBI bank robbery data shows armed guards increase risk of violence
CIR’s study of the FBI data is among the first to measure how arming civilian guards affects public safety in the United States.
Posted inCybersecurity, National Security
Data breach mystery leads from Arizona counterterrorism site to China
The chance that a Chinese programmer made off with sensitive material was made possible by a set of cozy relationships – among a tainted sheriff’s official, a dubious technology startup and a woman suspected of being a spy.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care
Beating at developmental center goes unpunished after years of delays
Records show investigations by California state regulators and local police into a beating at the Porterville Developmental Center in 2010 – in which witnesses reported nursing assistant Erik Hansen allegedly stomping a patient unconscious – were beset by lengthy delays and shoddy work.Michael Fagans / The Center for Investigative Reporting Erik Hansen went by the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care
Elderly woman’s suspicious death largely ignored by state regulators
Abuse was suspected in Elsie Fossum’s death, but the Department of Public Health dismissed it as an accidental fall. Her case languished for seven years before it was closed.Courtesy of the Fossum family CLAREMONT, Calif. – Sabrina Bengoa was vocal about her dislike of the messier tasks of caring for the elderly. The nursing assistant […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care
Quick dismissal of caregiver abuse cases puts Calif. patients at risk
“I would tell anybody, do not count on the government taking care of you,” said Brian Woods, former director of the Department of Public Health’s West Covina office.Adithya Sambamurthy/The Center for Investigative Reporting California regulators routinely have conducted cursory and indifferent investigations into suspected violence and misconduct committed by hundreds of nursing assistants and in-home […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care
Head of California’s troubled developmental services agency to retire
Terri Delgadillo, director of the Department of Developmental ServicesMonica Lam/The Center for Investigative Reporting Terri Delgadillo, director of the California state government’s sprawling network of services for the developmentally disabled, announced today that she would retire at the end of the year. In 2006, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Delgadillo, 55, as director of the Department […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care
California auditor: Developmental center police failed to protect patients
Monica Lam/The Center for Investigative Reporting SACRAMENTO – The in-house police force at California’s developmental centers has frequently neglected to interview victims of abuse, photograph crime scenes or collect statements from suspects and witnesses, according to a state audit released today that confirms the key findings detailed in a series by The Center for Investigative […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care
Video: In Jennifer’s Room
A young developmentally disabled woman just wanted to be left alone. What happened next shattered a family.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Majority of third-strike inmates are addicts, records show
Inmate counselor Vincent Russo talks about healthy relationships at an Addiction Recovery Counseling meeting at San Quentin State Prison in August.Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle Convicts imprisoned under California’s three strikes law are no more inclined to high-risk “criminal thinking” than other inmates, but are far more likely to be addicted to drugs and alcohol, according to data […]