
U Visa Reporting Network
Congress created the U visa in 2000 to protect immigrant victims of crime, in particular those who are undocumented and fear deportation, and help police solve crimes. The visa can help victims get immigration status and ensure that criminals don’t operate with impunity.
But our analysis of policies from more than 100 agencies serving large immigrant communities found that nearly 1 of every 4 create barriers never envisioned under the U visa program. A review based on hundreds of police records and nearly 60 interviews found that victims are at the mercy of whatever internal rules police choose.
Localizations:
- Reclaiming the Narrative: Is Local Law Enforcement Undermining a Visa Program for Crime Victims?
- Charlotte Observer: Following complaints, CMPD U visa program will see changes

Case Cleared Reporting Network
In November 2018, we teamed up with Newsy and ProPublica to investigate rape clearance rates at police departments across the U.S. We found that dozens of law enforcement agencies are making it appear as though they have solved a significant share of their rape cases when they simply have closed them. Using our data and training materials, local reporters continued pursuing the story in their communities.
Localizations:
- Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting: KyCIR Amplify: A Sexual Assault Survivor on Getting Justice
- Tampa Bay Times: How the Pinellas Sheriff’s Office boosts its rape stats without solving cases
- Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting: Louisville Police Close More Than Half of Rape Cases Without Arresting Anyone
- The Seattle Times: Why are arrest rates for rape in Washington state so underwhelming?
- The Baltimore Sun: Hundreds of Baltimore-area sex assault victims signed waivers releasing police from duty of investigating
- KUT 90.5: Austin City Council Orders Outside Review of How Austin Police Investigate Sexual Assault
- The Baltimore Sun: Case cleared? In rape cases in Baltimore County and elsewhere, it often doesn’t mean an arrest
- Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting: Lacking Sexual Assault Nurses, Some Kentucky Hospitals Illegally Turn Victims Away
- East Bay Express: Why Do Oakland Police Dismiss So Many Rape Cases?
- Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting: Prosecution Declined
- Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting: Officials respond to KYCIR’s Prosecution Declined investigation
- Reveal: Think globally, report locally

To Protect and Slur Reporting Network
We wanted to know whether police officers nationwide were members of extremist groups.
That’s not a simple task, but we found one way to do it. We learned that on Facebook – at the time – you could download the membership rolls of private groups. So, we downloaded the names of members of two different kinds of groups we identified on Facebook: extremist groups and police groups. Then we shared what we found with local reporters.
Localizations:
- NJ.com: N.J. corrections officer exposed by racism report. Now he’s apologizing for anti-Muslim comments.
- The Oregonian: Portland cop’s past membership in extremist Facebook groups raises questions about how to track offensive social media use
- Manual RedEye: Kentucky law enforcement training used video with Nazi symbol