Inside Cascade PBS
How public records gave us a window into WA police misconduct
Being home on maternity leave during last year's Black Lives Matter protests got a reporter thinking about how to look deeper into police misdeeds.
Melissa Santos
Melissa Santos is formerly a Crosscut staff reporter who covered state politics and the Legislature. She came to Crosscut from The Seattle Times editorial board, where she wrote columns and opinion pi
Latest work
News
Nearly 200 cops with credibility issues still working in Washington state
A Crosscut investigation found at least 183 police officers flagged for issues such as dishonesty, bias and excessive force remain in law enforcement.
News
How fired cops win their jobs back: arbitration
In Washington state and around the nation, some cops fired for dishonesty or misconduct remain on the beat because private arbitrators gave them their jobs back.
News
Getting the story: How we investigated cops' credibility problems
Nine months of reporting and more than 100 records requests formed the basis of our look at police officers placed on so-called ‘Brady’ lists.
politics
With budget crisis averted, WA lawmakers consider more pandemic relief
Billions in federal aid, plus rebounding state revenue, leave legislators in a good position. Democrats are still looking to collect more in taxes.