Impact stories

Impact

1,200 GRAVES ARE MISSING IN TAMPA. HOW DID THEY DISAPPEAR?

Reporter Paul Guzzo likes to say that he has only one more cemetery story left. But after more than two years, he hasn’t stopped searching for the truth. His latest expose provided an account of what had happened at Tampa’s Italian Club Cemetery, where the graves of Black and Cuban residents were most likely covered over and forgotten.

THE NEW RECRUITS

In 2020, the Times covered many protests inspired by the calls for racial justice. We heard from people who were angry and frustrated by the actions of police officers across the country, including, of course, former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin, later convicted of George Floyd’s murder. Calls to defund police gained steam. Rank-and-file officers and chiefs alike decided this was no longer a job they could bear. So we asked ourselves: Who would want to be a police officer these days? And that led us to the St. Petersburg Police Academy. Times reporter Lane DeGregory and photographer John Pendygraft wanted to understand the kind of training recruits go through, the lessons they learn, and we wanted to see why someone would put themselves through this. Even in the best of circumstances, being a cop comes with risks and responsibilities that are sometimes life-and-death choices.

ARRESTS AND EVICTIONS

Reporters Christopher O’Donnell, Nathaniel Lash and Ian Hodgson’s investigation into the Tampa Police Department’s crime-free housing program prompted a response by city officials even before the story hit our front page. Their deep dive found that the program, which intended to get rid of major criminals, also had kicked entire families out of their homes over minor offenses. One day after the story published, civil rights groups and politicians asked Tampa Mayor Jane Castor to suspend or scrap the program. Two days later, Castor announced reforms.

FAILURE AT PINEY POINT

Environmental reporter Zachary T. Sampson started writing about April’s Piney Point disaster in March — before it became the biggest environmental disaster Florida has seen in years. His first story explained how wastewater was leaking from the old fertilizer plant in Palmetto and how the state was going to let the owner discharge some of it into Tampa Bay to prevent a catastrophe. Two days later, Zack reported that a reservoir of polluted water could collapse. In April, it nearly did. Zack stayed on the story and then paired with reporters Bethany Barnes and Christopher O’Donnell on A Failure to Act, a deeper look, a deeper look at how the situation got to such a dire place.