New on Reveal: Power – Who Has It and How Do They Wield It?

This week, we take a look at three local investigative stories that have had a big impact. The focus? Power.

You’ll hear:

• How a hack revealed the inner workings of the D.C. police. In 2021, a group of hackers attacked the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., leaking 250 gigabytes of confidential files. Buried in tens of thousands of records, Reveal reporter Dhruv Mehrotra found a disturbing pattern. Records of disciplinary decisions showed that an internal panel of high-ranking officers kept some troubled officers on the force – even after department investigators substantiated allegations of criminal misconduct and recommended they be fired.

• Why people are injected with ketamine during police stops – and the deadly consequences. In 2019, police in Aurora, Colorado, wrestled 23-year-old Elijah McClain to the ground, and paramedics injected him with ketamine. McClain went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and died a few days later. McClain’s name became a national rallying cry, and as Michael de Yoanna and Rae Solomon from KUNC public radio report, his story exposes a pattern of paramedics across the nation doling out potentially dangerous doses of sedatives during police stops.  

• A deep dive on the impact of laws that strip voting rights from people who have been incarcerated. Prisoner disenfranchisement laws have been on the books since the founding of our nation and disproportionately affect voters of color. St. Louis Public Radio’s Andrea Henderson reports from Missouri, where about 63,000 formerly incarcerated people could not vote in the last presidential election. We dug into the numbers and found 26% of those people were Black – in a state where Black people make up about 12% of the population.

Listen to the episode: Who Has Power and How Do They Wield It?

Read Dhruv’s story about the D.C. police: D.C. Police Tried to Fire 24 Current Officers for ‘Criminal Offenses.’ A Powerful Panel Blocked Nearly Every One, Documents Show.

The truth won’t reveal itself. Help us deliver the stories that make a difference. Donate today.

Behind the Scenes of the Voting Rights Story

Andrea Henderson reported her story for this week’s episode as part of the Reveal Investigative Fellowship, a program we created to provide training and mentorship to local journalists, in the hopes of making the investigative reporting field more diverse. 

She spent the past year talking to formerly incarcerated people about the right to vote. I talked to Andrea about what she learned about how not being able to vote affected people in her city. 

What do you feel like most people might misunderstand about St. Louis? 

Andrea Henderson: People often think that St. Louis is just a violent city. You also hear that it’s not a good city for Black folks to live in because of the stark differences in regards to wealth inequality, which is true. The systemic and institutional racism that happens across the nation is happening here, too. So we hear a lot about the city being violent and poor, but the city is also very rich in culture, rich in Black history and rich in the arts. A lot of Black artists, Black writers and Black actors come from St. Louis. 

What feels like the heart of this story to you? What do you want to make sure all listeners understand? 

I spoke to a lot of formerly incarcerated people about why it was important for them to vote, and many people said, “I want to be able to vote for my school board. I want to be able to vote for my mayor and for my aldermen, my councilman.” They were more interested in local elections than they were in the presidential elections. They said restoring their vote will help them feel like they can contribute to the community. Everybody that I spoke to said the same thing: It makes them feel human again. Being able to vote makes them feel like they are a part of society and not in a cell anymore. 

What sorts of assumptions, stigmas and stereotypes are you trying to challenge with reporting this story? 

The idea that formerly incarcerated people do not care about the voting process. They don't care about politics. Those are some of the main stereotypes that I personally have heard. Eric Harris, who is in the story – I asked him what were some of the things that he talked about while in prison. He said the top thing they always debated was politics. They were inside, but everybody inside is aware of what's happening on the outside. 

You’ve been a Reveal fellow for the past year. How did the fellowship affect you? 

I didn’t really do stories about incarceration or felon disenfranchisement before. But once I started this fellowship, and then working with my editors, I immediately found a love for talking about issues surrounding mass incarceration, whether it be mental health, voting rights or wrongful convictions. I want to continue talking about mass incarceration because it's really affecting many Black and Brown people. From the knowledge I received from Reveal and the work I did, I can see a future doing more investigations into the incarceration system.

By the Numbers 

After the Civil War, many states enacted laws that ban people convicted of felonies from voting. Here are some numbers to consider, from The Sentencing Project and the World Prison Brief.

5.2 million people in the United States are barred from voting because of felon disenfranchisement laws. 

1.8 million of those disenfranchised adults are Black. 

1 in 16 Black Americans is disenfranchised. Black people of voting age are nearly four times as likely to lose their voting rights as the rest of the adult population. 

75% of disenfranchised voters live in their communities, either under probation or parole supervision or having completed their sentence. 

48 states have laws restricting voting by people who have been convicted of felonies, with Maine and Vermont as exceptions.

1 in 5 prisoners in the world are incarcerated in the United States. The U.S. incarcerates a larger percentage of its population than any other country for which data is available. 

Event: Learn about the Art of Podcast Sound Design

At Reveal, we have two full-time musicians on staff. Audio engineers Jim Briggs and Fernando Arruda create the scoring that lays the foundation for our storytelling. And on Thursday, they’ll be part of a panel on sound design at KQED in the San Francisco Bay Area, hosted by the Association of Independents in Radio (AIR) and the PRX Podcast Garage.

Jim and Fernando will explain their process of composing, selecting and arranging audio components that complement the stories of our weekly show. They’ll also lead an interactive sound design exercise with in-person attendees and lead a Q&A session with all attendees. Participants can attend virtually or in person. Get more details and RSVP here.