Images above from “The Western Mass Police Department That Has Hosted Two-Dozen Events At A Chick-Fil-A” (November 4, 2019) By Maya Shaffer
Since before we even published our first feature, we set out to use BINJ as an incubator to produce and distribute longform reporting. While our team has also taken on other big challenges, from teaching to advocating for journalism, we are proud to have fulfilled our mission to pursue the kind of comprehensive stories, often investigative, that fewer outlets are able to publish in today’s troubled media climate.
As part of our retrospective celebration of BINJ entering its tenth year, we hit the archives for some of our most impactful, popular, and memorable articles. Recognizing how hundreds of them intersect topics, we picked nearly 250 of our favorites and parsed them into 13 categories: Education; Labor; Housing & Gentrification; Police & Surveillance; Prisons & Parole; Transit; Environment; Politics & Government Accountability; Immigrant Communities; Music, Arts & Sports; LGBTQIA+; Opioids & Other Drugs; Massachusetts History.
We are posting these compendiums by category weekly through the end of January 2025, and it’s not just for posterity. We hope that seeing the fruits of our labor in this light inspires you to support BINJ to do more of this work; the greatest hits in these roundups alone add up to two features a month over a decade, and they are in addition to hundreds of columns and shortform articles from projects like Somerville Wire and Manchester Divided.
Finally, you can also help by telling us which topics and investigations you think we should follow up on in the new year. Check out the list below, then find our quick engagement survey near the bottom of the post.
Police & Surveillance Reporting
License To Connive (September 8, 2015) By Kenneth Lipp
Boston still tracks vehicles, lies about it, and leaves sensitive resident data exposed online.
SWAT INC. (November 4, 2015) By Bay State Examiner – Maya Shaffer and Andrew Quemere
The Commonwealth’s most infamous militarized police force continues to flout records law.
And Then There Were Five (July 12, 2016) By Adam Sennott
This originally appeared as a two-part story centering around police officers injured and allegedly injured during the shootout with Boston Marathon bombers in Watertown on April 19, 2013.
Caught With Our Gantries Down (November 9, 2016) By Evan C. Anderson
Everything you think you know about the new Mass tolls is wrong
Watching Boston (July 11, 2017) By Daniel Defraia
The true beginning of a false narrative: an investigation into the Hub’s Neighborhood Watch
We Came, We Saw, We Covered (A #FIGHTSUPREMACY Composite Retrospect) (August 22, 2017) By Multiple Authors
Between the protesters, the counterprotesters, the media, the cops, and a handful of trolls, countless stories unfolded in Boston last weekend. These are several we encountered…
Small Town SWAT Team (November 15, 2017) By Seth Kershner
A special investigation into the ‘militarization of Mayberry’ in Mass
Sex, Consent and Custody (February 25, 2018) By Kori Feener
Is there a loophole in Mass law that helps cops who rape perps?
Children and SWAT Raids (March 1, 2018) By Seth Kershner
The unintended consequences of militarized police in Massachusetts homes
The Fantasy Robots Of Boston Dynamics (March 21, 2018) By Gary Zabel
Relax—we’re a lot further away from an automaton takeover than you may think
Caught On Cam-Share (March 21, 2018) By Daniel Defraia
BPD seeks access to private security cameras, experiments with new surveillance network
Attack Of The Peace Police (June 7, 2018) By Seth Kershner
Despite cries from advocates and experts, heavily armed SWAT teams are increasingly deployed to nonviolent protests in Mass
Thin Blue Lineage (October 2, 2018) By Biran Z. Zayatz
What’s up with all those flags lining the roads outside of Boston?
Only Time And Tape Will Tell (January 1, 2019) By Eoin Higgins
Will New Bedford finally find out what happened to Malcolm Gracia?
Rights, Cameras, Extractions (March 14, 2019) By Seth Kershner
Hampshire County has the most violent small jail in the state, and one of the least transparent
Real Troopers & Beeper Days (October 10, 2019) By Chris Faraone
Consultants told Mass State Police how to avoid turmoil. The department ignored the advice and spent the following two decades spiraling toward boundless corruption.
The Western Mass Police Department That Has Hosted Two-Dozen Events At A Chick-Fil-A (November 4, 2019) By Maya Shaffer
“They are a great company. They do great work here. End of discussion.”
It’s Nearly Impossible To Obtain Police Records in Mass. Will That Ever Change? (June 20, 2020) By Maya Shaffer
For anybody trying to get public information on police in Mass, there are several stumbling blocks, any number of which stymied USA Today.
Mass State Police Compromise Hundreds Of OUI Cases. Again. (July 10, 2020) By Zack Huffman
“This is the dinosaur way of measuring blood alcohol concentration.”
Is Peer Intervention For Cops An Epic Fail In The Making? A Look At The NOLA Program Headed For Boston (July 28, 2020) By Mita Kataria
“They’re designed to punish a few officers or in some of these cases just to stop them from doing bad things before they get there.”
Special Feature: Swampscott Vs. Shimmy (July 20, 2021) By Sophie Yarin
The prosecution of protester Ernst Jean-Jacques Jr. on the North Shore is a clear example of a Black Lives Matter activist being targeted by local law enforcement. Without national attention on the case, authorities are playing by their own rules.
A Win For Transparency And Police Accountability In Mass (February 8, 2022) By Andrew Quemere
“We don’t go into things looking to file lawsuits, but when we feel like people have not followed the law, we challenge them.”
Centra Intelligence (July 11, 2022) By Dan Atkinson
New Documents Reveal Extent, Cost Of BPD’s Secret Surveillance Strategy
Ears For Fear: The Shotspotter Workaround (December 13, 2022) By Dan Atkinson
Boston, Regional Police Dodge Transparency Ordinance In Bolstering Surveillance Network
Still Waiting (January 9, 2023) By Zack Huffman
Tainted Drug Evidence Victims Still Waiting For Settlement Payments
Strike & Frisk (May 15, 2023) By Chris Faraone
AG Investigating BPD To Determine If “Gang Unit” Engages In “Unconstitutional Policing”
Impunity Service (June 28, 2023) By Dan Atkinson
The state’s police oversight commission only publicizes cops who have been punished, but there’s a back door to discovering the dirty details of departments that let problematic officers linger
The Seven Years War (July 13, 2023) By Maya Shaffer
Boston police used their fusion center to surveil my journalistic actions. It took nearly seven years for BPD to hold itself somewhat accountable, and only after they used my information in a Department of Homeland Security conference presentation.
Facial Animosity (May 20, 2024) By Dan Atkinson
As Massachusetts lawmakers weigh new facial recognition rules, their own guards shop for AI-enhanced surveillance that privacy advocates call “chilling,” “unlawful,” and “racially biased”
Half The Story (September 18, 2024) By Chris Faraone
The lack of comprehensive employment history data in Massachusetts is driven home by the launch of a data tool for exactly that information from 17 other states this week.
