FREELANCE INVESTIGATIVE DATA JOURNALIST
RELENTLESS.
I persistently weave data, records and research into a compelling narrative designed to pull readers and viewers in.
My award-winning investigative data work has led to changes in laws and policies, exposed an international human trafficking ring, inspired the American Civil Liberties Union to sue Denver Police and win $3.76 million, prompted a Congressional inquiry, and compelled a sheriff’s office to fire a troublesome deputy.
Work Samples
Through a painstaking database build & analysis, I found huge companies have expanded their reach to more childcare centers across New Zealand. There are seven companies that commandeer at least 1,000 licensed childcare places and 17 companies with at least 500 licensed places for students.
BusinessDesk published this collaborative investigation in July 2024.
I found systemic loopholes in the way Colorado polices untruthful law enforcement officers. I found 15 officials who have a verified finding of untruthfulness from an internal affairs or criminal inquiry. All of these officers still have licenses to be peace officers elsewhere - if a department will hire them.
I combined web scraping and months of blanketing the state with records requests to create the database that was the backbone of our investigation. I was the lead reporter on this collaboration and wrote the lion’s share of the web story.
The piece was published in May 2024 by Colorado Public Radio. I went on Colorado Matters, their flagship radio program, shortly afterwards to discuss my reporting.
Millions of Americans are caregivers for loved ones and are often children. This documentary followed families across the nation as they helped their veterans heal.
I handled logistics and ensured the success of shoots across the country from Alaska to Hawaii as a volunteer on this non-profit project. I requested and managed Freedom of Information Act requests.
The documentary is streaming on Peacock, a NBCUniversal platform. A rough cut of the documentary aired in the Kennedy Center in November 2019.
More than 100 Colorado nursing homes that experienced COVID-19 outbreaks were fined for poor infection control and other pandemic-related failures — but those very same facilities also pocketed financial bonuses tied to infection rates.
I spent months merging and analyzing three datasets with SQL, creating maps in ArcGIS, collecting inspection reports and interviewing whistleblowers/family members.
The story won a 2022 regional Emmy and prompted a Congressional inquiry.
The Denver police department's SWAT team searched Ruby Johnson’s home, where she has lived for 40 years, looking for a car, guns and cash that had been stolen from a downtown Denver hotel days earlier.
They did not find anything, but did traumatize Johnson. The story prompted the American Civil Liberties Union to sue the detective that created the warrant. A jury awarded Johnson $3.76 million for damages in March 2024.
I broke these stories and other outlets later followed. I conducted a months-long investigation into Denver Police SWAT knock-and-announce warrants and found that they occur more often in minority neighborhoods.
I went undercover in gun stores across Colorado and discovered blatant disregard for a law banning the sale of large-capacity magazines. I analyzed six years of judicial records and discovered 128 people have been charged and 12 sentenced for violating the large-capacity magazine ban.
Finally, I managed the records process with police departments across the state. I discovered that the Idaho Springs Police Department accidentally returned two 70-round magazines back to a man who pled guilty to breaking the law. The series aired in November 2019.