He was just dumbfounded. After all, I had to deal with the cops every day. I understood their bewilderment. The fact is, any beat reporter who takes on a high-profile investigative story had better be prepared for lots of heat. I knew this story would be no exception.
Sources are a beat reporter's bread and butter.
I spent 15 years developing sources in the criminal justice system and I've worked hard to earn the trust and loyalty of my police sources. I go to great lengths to protect them. And I knew the story on the downtown foot patrol could threaten some of those relationships. The story began like so many others. Photojournalist Nancy Soo Hoo and I were making our regular rounds at police headquarters one day last fall.