Three investigations by journalists at The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com had been acknowledged as among the many greatest within the nation by Editor & Writer journal.
Republic reporting uncovered a gang of youngsters in Gilbert whose assaults on different younger individuals went unchecked by police for greater than a 12 months; detailed the fallout of so-called “crime free” provisions in rental leases; and revealed a pointy improve of incidents the place Phoenix police level firearms at youngsters, some as younger as 2 years outdated.
“Every of those investigations exhibits the facility of native reporting and the talent and tenacity of our journalists,” mentioned Greg Burton, Republic govt editor. “We thank our readers for his or her assist, in addition to the judges.”
Editor & Writer’s annual EPPY Awards contest honors achievements in digital journalism and innovation. The articles in regards to the “Gilbert Goons” — by Republic reporters Robert Anglen and Elena Santa Cruz — gained first place for greatest investigative sequence. An examination of crime-free housing insurance policies by reporter Hannah Dreyfus took second place in the identical class.
The article about police pointing weapons at younger individuals, by former Republic reporter Sahana Jayaraman, gained second place for greatest investigative function.
The investigations had been the end result of months of labor by journalists at The Republic and have had ongoing results in metro Phoenix and throughout Arizona.
Anglen and Santa Cruz had been the primary to tie the beating loss of life of 16-year-old Preston Lord at a Halloween get together in 2023 to the “Gilbert Goons.”
They detailed how the Goons recorded their blitz-style assaults on teenagers in parks and parking garages, outdoors fast-food eating places and at home events in Phoenix’s southeast suburbs.
Gilbert was the nexus of assaults, which additionally occurred in Mesa, Chandler and Pinal County. Authorities didn’t start making arrests within the Goons’ assaults till after The Republic’s report.
The investigation into crime-free housing insurance policies confirmed how the legally binding contract for renters expands “legal exercise” that may result in a right away eviction to incorporate a broad vary of actions, corresponding to making an excessive amount of noise, not correctly registering guests or lighting up a joint.
It offers landlords broad energy to resolve {that a} crime occurred, even with out an arrest, conviction or an precise crime.
In a first-of-its-kind evaluation that was a part of the sequence, Dreyfus labored with the nonprofit analysis group RAND to indicate the insurance policies didn’t scale back crime – their acknowledged cause for present.
For the reason that publication of the articles, three Arizona cities have directed their police departments to reevaluate their applications and the Lawyer Normal’s Workplace is reviewing the information and authorized implications of the crime-free addendum. Two lawmakers additionally plan to introduce laws on the problem on the state Capitol when the Legislature convenes in January.
This text initially appeared on Arizona Republic: Republic investigations win EPPY awards