Articles for Investigative Post staff

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 5 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 5 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 5 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 5 years ago

Dec 19

2019

Metro Rail riders losing benefit of the doubt

Come next summer, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority plans to abandon its honor system to ride Metro Rail. Instead, it will require riders on the underground portion of the transit line to pay and pass through a turnstile to board a train. The change is intended, in part, to discourage riders from boarding without paying a fare at Metro Rail’s eight underground stations. “It’ll make it a little easier on the officers because it’ll be a very clear barrier that people will know, without a doubt, that if you go through this turnstile, you need a ticket,” said George Gast,[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Dec 7

2019

Vote for Investigative Post’s top story of 2019

Investigative Post has enjoyed a 70 percent growth in website traffic this year. This surge comes in addition to the audiences we garner through our partners at WGRZ, WBFO, The Capitol Pressroom and Buffalo Spree. What’s driving the growth in our online audience? The quality of our reporting. Investigative Post has chalked up another banner year, and now it’s time for you, our readers, to tell us what you think by voting in our online poll for the best story of the year. Here are the choices: City Hall cashing in on traffic tickets Buffalo’s in bad fiscal shape State[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Dec 7

2019

Gambini joins Investigative Post staff

Phil Gambini is off to a running start with Investigative Post. Gambini joined the Investigative Post reporting staff last week after five years with the Niagara Gazette. He broke his first story Friday and has another teed up for this coming week. In recent months, while still with the Gazette, Gambini teamed with Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney to report on several stories on the Western Regional Off Track Betting Corp. “Phil’s a digger,” Heaney said. “He’s widely respected in Niagara County for his work with the Gazette and his reporting skills are going to be a real asset to[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Dec 7

2019

Spotlight reporter’s dismay over clerical abuse

Matt Carroll has something to say about the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests. And he said it Wednesday here in Buffalo. He was a reporter on The Boston Globe Spotlight team that produced more than 600 stories on the topic in 2002-03. He and his colleagues won a Pulitzer Prize and were later the subject of the Academy Award winning film “Spotlight.” Carroll spoke to an audience of about 140 on Wednesday at an event at 166 Chandler sponsored by Investigative Post. Attendees included many people involved in the effort to reform the Buffalo diocese. Carroll answered questions[...]

Posted 5 years ago