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Sam Stecklow

@samstecklow

journalist & FOIA fellow @invisible.institute indie local news cheerleader if you were really smart, you’d know what to do orlando he/him

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Latest posts by Sam Stecklow @samstecklow

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The National Police Index’s brand new website provides unprecedented public access to police employment records from across the United States and allows users to track law enforcement employment records across 24 states — searchable by officer name, agency, and more. national.cpdp.co/

03.03.2026 19:05 👍 14 🔁 9 💬 1 📌 0
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Join us and @investigatewest.bsky.social on March 12 to learn how to find police employment and misconduct data in Idaho, Oregon and Washington — and how to use it in real accountability reporting. Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

24.02.2026 18:41 👍 5 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
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Embattled Pinal County prosecutor’s top investigator is disgraced cop Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller hired Richard Mueller to lead his investigators -- despite Mueller's long rap sheet.

Brad Miller, the embattled Pinal County attorney who lied about using Signal, sure knows how to pick 'em.

As @stephenlemons.bsky.social lays out, Miller's hand-picked top investigator, Richard Mueller, is a disgraced cop with a long history of misconduct.

Story:

23.02.2026 23:20 👍 5 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
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How ICE, THP targeted Nashville immigrants, inflated safety claims - Nashville Banner Analysis shows Tennessee state troopers and ICE agents profiled and disparaged immigrants during Nashville enforcement operation in May 2025.

INVESTIGATION: Over the last 5 months, the Banner and a coalition of partners analyzed 52 hours of footage and thousands of pages of documents from a joint THP/ICE operation targeting Nashville’s predominantly immigrant neighborhoods. Here’s what we found: (1/11)

✍️ @sarahgracetaylor.bsky.social

19.02.2026 13:53 👍 251 🔁 144 💬 7 📌 17
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Terror, indifference and division limit ICE resistance in South Florida By Noreen Marcus, FloridaBulldog.org - Terror, indifference and division limit ICE resistance in South Florida, insiders say

Everybody talks abstractly about how a quarter-century of far-right governance turned one of the most culturally and politically diverse states into New Hungary, but this ground-level look at Floridians and ICE really drives home the fascism of it all www.floridabulldog.org/2026/02/terr...

21.02.2026 15:41 👍 55 🔁 27 💬 3 📌 4
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Idaho won’t let public see if a cop was fired or resigned State agencies will no longer release information about whether an officer retired, resigned or was fired

Our reporting on Idaho prisons used public records to identify dozens of guards who resigned after misconduct — and it was met by calls for transparency from the governor.

Instead, the state decided those records are no longer public. W/@invisible.institute: www.investigatewest.org/idaho-record...

17.02.2026 19:46 👍 5 🔁 6 💬 1 📌 0
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Idaho won’t let public see if a cop was fired or resigned State agencies will no longer release information about whether an officer retired, resigned or was fired

Idaho’s prison system will no longer release information about whether an officer retired, resigned or was fired. It comes after we used those records to expose alleged sexual misconduct by dozens of prison guards. w/ the @invisible.institute - www.investigatewest.org/idaho-record...

17.02.2026 18:14 👍 32 🔁 25 💬 0 📌 4
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Idaho won’t let public see if a cop was fired or resigned State agencies will no longer release information about whether an officer retired, resigned or was fired

NEW: After @investigatewest.bsky.social used records from the IDOC & POST Council to report on sexual abuse in Idaho prisons, and @invisible.institute published police employment history data in the state, authorities are now changing policies to conceal both sources of information from the public.

17.02.2026 19:58 👍 10 🔁 8 💬 0 📌 0
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In Missouri, there is no state law that automatically revokes a convicted police officer’s license.

That must change.

I explain why in my latest column for the Kansas City Star Editorial Board. To read the piece, click on the link below.
LINK
👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾
www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-...

13.02.2026 03:23 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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Puerto Rico’s Municipal Police Is Calling Immigration Enforcement on People Nelfry Hernández-Valdez, a Dominican migrant, was driving through Isabela in September 2025 when he was stopped by officers from the Isabela Municipal Police Department (IMPD), according to a federal ...

NEW: Puerto Rico municipal police officers are calling federal immigration agencies when they encounter migrants during traffic stops and at court hearings. In one instance, the cops held migrants at their police station until CBP arrived.

1/x

thelatinonewsletter.org/p/puerto-ric...

07.02.2026 23:28 👍 46 🔁 25 💬 3 📌 4
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“You’re Not Going to Investigate a Federal Officer” It doesn’t happen often, but local law enforcement can arrest and charge federal agents. Legal experts say there’s a moral obligation to at least try to hold federal immigration officers accountable w...

NEW: It doesn’t happen often, but local law enforcement can arrest and charge federal agents.

Legal experts say there’s a moral obligation to at least try to hold federal immigration officers accountable when they violate the Constitution and the law.

05.02.2026 13:00 👍 968 🔁 336 💬 32 📌 30
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Identified: the El Paso BORTAC crew rampaging through the Midwest One violent duo in particular, U.S. Border Patrol agents Michael Sveum (EZ-2) and Edgar Vazquez (EZ-17), have been frequently seen alongside former commander-at-large Greg Bovino terrorizing crowds wi...

NEW: since last year, a pair of "highly trained" feds have been involved in an array of incidents attacking crowds with chemical weapons.

We used public records and open source analysis to identify Edgar Vazquez and Michael Sveum, alongside some other members of their tactical team.

Read more:

04.02.2026 21:24 👍 5927 🔁 3150 💬 120 📌 210
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Two CBP Agents Identified in Alex Pretti Shooting The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raym...

1/ BREAKING: Government documents reviewed by ProPublica identify Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa, 43, and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez, 35, as the two who fired their weapons during the deadly encounter with Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

01.02.2026 21:12 👍 1802 🔁 750 💬 85 📌 99
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These Patches Are Clues to Identifying Immigration Agents We built a guide to patches worn by ICE and CBP to help the public determine which federal agents are in their communities.

EXCLUSIVE: These Patches Are Clues to Identifying Immigration Agents

We built a guide to patches worn by ICE and CBP to help the public determine which federal agents are in their communities

theintercept.com/2026/01/28/i...

28.01.2026 18:55 👍 763 🔁 474 💬 20 📌 33
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Two Idaho guards avoid charges for alleged inmate sex abuse Investigative files reveal allegations from several women that weren’t enough for criminal consequences

There were witnesses. And victim accounts. One man was stripped of his certification for "criminal conduct" and "inappropriate sexual conduct while on duty." But it wasn't enough to charge 2 Idaho prison guards accused of sexually abusing multiple women. www.investigatewest.org/two-idaho-pr...

28.01.2026 22:53 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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Michael Connelly Should Stick To Fake Crime | Defector The origin of Michael Connelly’s new true crime podcast, Killer in the Code, was a rather far-fetched tip fielded by Rick Jackson, a retired detective from the Los Angeles Police Department. A self-de...

for the weekend crowd: I dug into a new podcast that pins a bunch of notorious murders on a long-dead Jewish man from San Diego. It's the ugliest true crime property in recent memory. [gift link] defector.com/michael-conn...

24.01.2026 15:43 👍 256 🔁 67 💬 6 📌 17
Social card with text: Wondering how to effectively track police misconduct? Start here.

Social card with text: Wondering how to effectively track police misconduct? Start here.

The need for law enforcement transparency & accountability has never been clearer – especially as ICE wreaks havoc on communities.

But police misconduct has always been hard to track, penalize, and prevent.

These resources aim to change that 🧵

27.01.2026 20:15 👍 14 🔁 8 💬 1 📌 2

Fascinating to see former Utah police chief Ken Wallentine cited here as a use of force “consultant” voicing concerns about ICE tactics.

Wallentine spent years writing policies that protect cops who use force for Lexipol, and nearly all of his “consulting” in lawsuits has been on behalf of police.

28.01.2026 15:02 👍 72 🔁 30 💬 1 📌 0
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Loose Rules Let State Police Hand Out Lax Penalties for Serious Misconduct

NEW, by me: Loose Rules Let State Police Hand Out Lax Penalties for Serious Misconduct

The agency's disciplinary system is weaker than other large departments in NY. Troopers who committed serious misconduct have been allowed to remain on the job.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/u...

28.01.2026 14:33 👍 3 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
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How We Tracked Down Thousands of Police Misconduct Files

Here's what I've been working on the past two and a half years: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/u...

28.01.2026 14:37 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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The Invisible Institute is hiring for a full-time Investigative Reporter — Invisible Institute The Invisible Institute is hiring an investigative reporter to join our team and work alongside our staff to report on police abuse, state violence, and official secrecy in Chicago and beyond.

Join our team! The Invisible Institute is hiring an investigative reporter to join our team and work alongside our staff to report on police abuse, state violence, and official secrecy in Chicago and beyond. Apply by Feb. 15th!

16.01.2026 22:49 👍 15 🔁 11 💬 0 📌 0

Taking a page from local cops in Minnesota:

27.01.2026 18:34 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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Resource spotlight: Data projects tracking police misconduct, use of force, and employment histories The need for law enforcement transparency, oversight, and accountability has never been clearer. We highlight data projects that have helped document and investigate misconduct, as ...

Thanks to @prisonpolicy.org for featuring @invisible.institute's public police data projects the National Police Index and Civic Police Data Projects in this resource spotlight, in good company with our friends in California, Louisiana, and elsewhere:

27.01.2026 15:43 👍 10 🔁 7 💬 1 📌 0
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Teach In on Data for Police Accountability | January 22, 2026 in Oakland, CA For decades, law enforcement agencies across the United States have operated behind walls of secrecy—particularly when officers abuse their power or use lethal force. That opacity has real consequence...

We are excited to co-sponsor this event on police accountability in Oakland on January 22 with @ucbids.bsky.social, Anti-Police Terror Project (APTP), Community Law Enforcement Accountability Network, & the National Police Index.

hrdag.org/2026/01/13/t...

20.01.2026 20:56 👍 6 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
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How Chicago's 'Fraternal Order of Propaganda' shapes the story of fatal police shootings - Chicago Reader When cops kill civilians, their union is on hand to defend them. In many cases this has come at the expense of the truth.

Shaping narratives when police shoot and kill someone has been a fundamental part of how police and their supporters operate. For example, see this @yanak.bsky.social @samstecklow.bsky.social story about the Chicago Police Department from 2016: chicagoreader.com/news/how-chi...

08.01.2026 17:23 👍 10 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 4
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He was at Jan. 6. The Phoenix Police Department hired him anyway Scotty Bach was a Seattle cop when he went to the "Stop the Steal" rally in D.C. Now he carries a badge in Phoenix.

Police officers move to new departments all the time. What is the responsibility of local agencies to make sure they're not hiring officers accused of misconduct?

@samstecklow.bsky.social and I look at the hiring of one officer in Phoenix

www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/phoenix...

07.01.2026 22:35 👍 3 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
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He was at Jan. 6. The Phoenix Police Department hired him anyway Scotty Bach was a Seattle cop when he went to the "Stop the Steal" rally in D.C. Now he carries a badge in Phoenix.

In the first of three stories, @yanak.bsky.social and I report on how self-imposed pressures on the Phoenix PD pushed officials to hire increasing amounts of "lateral transfer" officers from other departments — or other states.

@invisible.institute + @theappeal.org + @phoenixnewtimes.com

06.01.2026 22:33 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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Seattle Investigated a Cop for Attending Trump’s Rally on Jan. 6. Phoenix Hired Him. As Phoenix PD rushed to fill open positions, the department may have overlooked red flags in recruits' backgrounds.

NEW: In 2021, Seattle cop Scotty Bach attended the Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6, resigned after an investigation found it was "inconclusive" whether or not he committed misconduct there, and sued to prevent his name from being released.

In 2022, he was hired by the Phoenix Police Department.

06.01.2026 22:30 👍 10 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
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Officer Who Killed 12-Year-Old Tamir Rice Just Got Two More Police Jobs in West Virginia — Dragline Public outcry erupted last July when news broke that Timothy Loehmann – the man who killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in a Cleveland park in 2014 – was hired as a police officer by the City of White Sulph...

Timothy Loehmann killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in a Cleveland park in 2014.

Records show Loehmann was recently hired again by not one, but two departments in West Virginia: the Snowshoe Resort Community District and the Gilmer County Sheriff's Office.

18.12.2025 16:36 👍 9 🔁 5 💬 2 📌 1
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A Police Killing Drew National Protests. At Home, a Commission Struggles with How to Make a Difference.  More than a year after Sonya Massey was killed by police in Illinois, a namesake commission has wrestled over changes that would prevent future tragedies.

Over the past year, a group of activists, former law enforcement officials, and relatives of people who were harmed by police worked to recommend police reforms for Springfield, Illinois. Their new report reflects months of debate and compromise.

10.12.2025 14:00 👍 34 🔁 13 💬 0 📌 0