Articles for Investigative Post staff

Mar 24

2020

Safety concerns for ill-equipped Buffalo cops

Two Buffalo police officers have tested positive for COVID-19, about 10 others are isolating themselves, and yet more are working without protective gear such as face masks to reduce the chances they’ll become infected with the virus, says John Evans, president of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association. The shortage of working police cars, paired with the department’s coronavirus sick time policy, is putting more officers at risk, he said. Evans and his union are presently the prime source of information on the health of city police officers because the Brown administration is not releasing details, unlike other law enforcement agencies[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Mar 22

2020

COVID-19: Arrests plummet in Buffalo

Updated: 2:36 p.m. Crime is way down in the City Of Buffalo since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. The number of daily arrests before the pandemic typically exceeded 20 a day, including a recent high of 37 on March 6. Arrests since Thursday have ranged from two to eight a day. Police say there’s one primary reason for the drop: businesses, which can be a magnet for criminal activity, have mostly closed. “A lot of commerce has stopped,” said Captain Jeff Rinaldo. “A lot of crime occurs around commerce. If you don’t have commerce, you don’t have crime.” Gov. Andrew[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Mar 18

2020

3 county inmates being observed for COVID-19

Three inmates being held in Erie County jails have been isolated and placed under observation after exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19. The three people self-reported signs of upper respiratory infections during the intake process, the Sheriff’s Office medical director said in a video message released to the media Wednesday afternoon. These inmates are being housed separately from the general jail population. The Sheriff’s Office did not specify they’re in the Erie County Holding Center in downtown Buffalo or the Correctional Facility in Alden. The sheriff’s medical team contacted the Erie County Department of Health regarding one of the inmates. The Department[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Mar 17

2020

Virus prompts changes in court proceedings

County and state court proceedings entered unchartered territory Tuesday, consolidating operations in downtown Buffalo and handling only arraignments of jailed defendants via video conference. The changes were implemented after a statewide memorandum ordered the cessation of non-essential functions, effective 5 p.m. Monday. “It is hectic,” Andrew Isenberg, the Eighth Judicial District Executive, who oversees all regional court matters, told Investigative Post in an email. “Our entire society has been turned upside down and that now includes our criminal justice system and, frankly, our entire court system,” said Erie County District Attorney John Flynn. In Erie County, all arraignments are happening[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Feb 5

2020

Child pornography prosecutions on the rise

Prosecution of child pornography cases spiked last year in Western New York. Between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Erie County District Attorney, 80 cases were prosecuted last year. That’s almost double the number of cases prosecuted in 2017. “There are times where we’re finding child pornography involving children who are 10 or 12 months old. That’s very shocking, seeing those images and videos and trying to figure out why someone would have interest in that stuff,” said said Michael Hockwater, a detective on the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. Cases the FBI task force handle range from a man who photographed[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Jan 17

2020

iPost hires accomplished fundraiser

Investigative Post has bolstered its fundraising prowess with the hiring of Nancy Webb as director of Development and Administration. Webb, a relative newcomer to Buffalo, has had a distinguished career in Texas. She served as the director of Philanthropic Services at the North Texas Community Foundation from 2014-17. During her tenure, the team she headed increased the Fort Worth foundation’s assets from $208 million to $280 million. From 2001 to 2013 she served as the development director, then vice president of organizational advancement, at Big Thought, which provides education programs for school age children in Dallas. Big Thought’s staff grew[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Jan 14

2020

Council ignores police ignoring Council

The Common Council committee charged with overseeing Buffalo police failed Tuesday to take up the department ignoring conditions lawmakers set for the purchase of 125 high-powered rifles two years ago. Investigative Post reported in October that police officials unilaterally changed training requirements and that most officers had not completed the training required by the Council to use the rifles. Police estimated it will be another two years before all officers are trained. As a result, more than half of the guns remain under lock at police headquarters. David Rivera, the Niagara District Council member who heads the Police Oversight Committee, did[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Jan 7

2020

Readers select iPost’s top story of last year

Investigative Post’s best story of 2019, as voted on by readers, reported on City Hall’s push to generate revenue at the expense of motorists. The story by Marsha McLeod, which published Feb. 27, documented how Buffalo police stepped up enforcement of traffic laws and city lawmakers imposed additional fees and fines. Revenues jumped from $500,000 to $2.8 million. McLeod wrote: “The city’s strategy is costing drivers a lot of money, and, in some cases, their driver’s license. Black and Latino drivers, whose neighborhoods have been targeted for traffic enforcement, appear to be hit the hardest, both in fines and loss[...]

Posted 6 years ago