Articles for Investigative Post staff

Apr 6

2020

COVID-19 threat not spurring many jail releases

Although local jails are potential incubators for the spread of COVID-19, authorities are moving slowly, some not at all, to release inmates being held on low-level charges and parole violations, or who are at high risk of contracting the deadly virus. Only 10 of 89 parolees being held in Erie and Niagara county jails for low-level violations had been released as of Friday, a week after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that 1,100 such parolees would be freed statewide. Nor have any of the 225 inmates – 165 in Erie County, 60 in Niagara County – been released who are serving[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Apr 1

2020

Listen to us on WBEN

Investigative Post has added another news outlet to its distribution network. Starting Thursday, Editor Jim Heaney, and on occasion, his reporters, will appear several times a week on the morning news program on NewsRadio 930WBEN. The station will also post links to our stories on its website. Investigative Post and WBEN are developing a partnership on the fly in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Investigative Post, the region’s nonprofit investigative reporting center, is producing stories daily on the pandemic’s impact on Western New York. WBEN’s morning news show, “A New Morning with Susan Rose and Brian Mazurowski,” is the[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Apr 1

2020

Data: Travel reduced only modestly in WNY

Western New Yorkers are being implored to stay at home and limit their travel. Data that tracks cell phone movement suggests that many are not heeding the call. On average, Erie County residents have made relatively modest changes to their travel patterns, reducing their average distance traveled by 40 to 55 percent. That works out to a grade of C on a scorecard developed by Unacast, which tracks cell phone movement. The other seven counties in Western New York are all receiving a grade of D or D minus. On balance, they’ve reduced their movement by less than 10[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Mar 27

2020

Sheriff Howard OK with release of prisoners

Updated: 6:02 p.m. While he has no authority to release people held in his jails, Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard said he has no objection to others using their powers to do so. “As sheriff, it is not in my authority to grant the early release or to remove the bail requirements that have been set by the court,” Howard said in a video statement released Friday. “But I will not oppose any measures or directives of the judiciary or other agencies to release any inmates.” In his video statement, Howard said he has encouraged the state Board of[...]

Posted 5 years ago

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 5 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 5 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 5 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 5 years ago