A years-long WXYZ-TV investigation into the Detroit police department has been named a finalist for broadcast journalism’s equivalent of the Pulitizer Prize.
On Thursday, Columbia University announced 30 finalists from across the country for this year’s Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards. Winners will be announced on January 25 in New York City.
‘Conduct Unbecoming’ revealed how dozens of Detroit police officers kept their badges after committing violence against women and children. The relentless reporting exposed gaps in oversight, forced the department to label 128 current officers as “high risk” and revealed how second and third chances cost taxpayers and public safety.
WXYZ’s reporting revealed how 151 Detroit officers had been criminally charged since 2016, dwarfing most similarly sized departments.
In more than 30 reports, the station prompted DPD to identify its riskiest officers—more than 5% of the force—and attempt to rehabilitate them. The investigation led more than a dozen officers to resign, retire or be removed from patrolling the streets.
Publicly, Detroit police officials claimed to have a “zero tolerance” policy for officers who committed domestic violence, but WXYZ’s reporting proved that was false.
In vivid detail over the course of two years, the station revealed scores of recent examples showing how officers abused wives, strangled girlfriends or left bruises on children but kept their badges while receiving minimal discipline.
The station’s reporting showed not only how violent officers avoided significant discipline, but how they were often promoted. In repeated cases, the investigation found that police commissioners voted to elevate serial abusers without ever reviewing their disciplinary histories.
The station also showed the consequences of the department’s inaction, detailing in multiple instances how officers found to have abused one citizen kept their badges, only to abuse multiple others.
In one recent instance, WXYZ showed how a sergeant who committed domestic violence against his girlfriend—including use of the n-word and destruction of property—was given a “last chance agreement” by the police chief.
Two years later, he would be sued over the wrongful arrest and prosecution of a black woman, an arrest a judge called “absurd, ridiculous and wrong.” The lawsuit seeks $10 million.
In another example, the station showed how an officer seen knocking a man unconscious who was deemed to pose no threat avoided accountability in Detroit and found another badge in a neighboring community. After WXYZ’s reporting, his license as a police officer was suspended.
In 2022, the Detroit police department created a new risk management unit in direct response to WXYZ’s reports. Since its formation, the unit has assessed every officer’s risk level by reviewing each officer’s misconduct profile.
In addition to reporter Ross Jones, 'Conduct Unbecoming' is the work of news editor Randy Lundquist, photographers Ramon Rosario and John Ciolino, assistant news director Tim Kochenderfer and news director Kennan Oliphant.
WXYZ is the only Detroit TV station to have previously won the duPont-Columbia award, winning the honor in 2012 and 1994.