Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting

The award, sponsored by the Journalism department at the College of Media, Communication and Information and the Denver Press Club, honors the late Al Nakkula, a 46-year veteran of the Rocky Mountain News whose tenacity made him a legendary police reporter. Nakkula passed away in 1990.

The award is for work produced by a reporter or reporting team in print and/or online platforms in the United States in 2024. Entries should take the form of a story or series about one topic and/or event. Sorry, this award is not for broadcast work. 

The first-place prize is $2,000. The winner will also be invited to speak to classes at the University of Colorado Boulder's College of Media, Communication and Information.

Enter now

Learn more about the 2024 winner: ‘A really gutsy piece of journalism’ on police response to the death of a woman in BDSM


 

YearName(s)StoryNews Organization
2023Brett Murphy"Words of Conviction: Tracing a Junk Science Through the Justice System"ProPublica
2022Meribah Knight (Nashville Public Radio) and Ken Armstrong (ProPublica)"Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn’t Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge"ProPublica (in partnership with Nashville Public Radio)
2021Eric Umansky with Adriana Gallardo, Lena Groeger, Joshua Kaplan, Topher Sanders, Joaquin Sapien, Mollie Simon, Moiz Syed, Lucas Waldron and Derek Willis"The NYPD Files"ProPublica (with contributing reporting from The City)
2020Kyle Hopkins"Lawless"Anchorage Daily News
2019Gary Harki"Jailed in Crisis"The Virginian-Pilot
2018Topher Sanders and Ben Conarck"Walking While Black"ProPublica, Florida Times Union
2017Jennifer Bjorhus and Kelly Smith and the investigative team"A Cry for Help"Minneapolis Star Tribune
2016Ken Armstrong, T. Christian MillerAn Unbelievable Story of RapeThe Marshall Project, ProPublica
2015Brad Heath“Fugitives Next Door”USA TODAY
2014Reporter Megan O’Matz and Database Editor John Maines“Cops, Cash, Cocaine”South Florida Sun Sentinel
2013Ryan Gabrielson“Broken Shield”Center for Investigative Reporting’s California Watch
2012Gina Barton“Both Sides of the Law”The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
2011Cris Barrish The News Journal
2010Mark Puente The Plain Dealer
2009Karyn Spencer Omaha World-Herald
2008Jonathan Schuppe The Newark Star-Ledger
2007Robert Rogers The Sun
2006John Diedrich Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Related Stories
2005Amber Hunt Martin Detroit Free Press
2004Del Quentin Wilber Baltimore Sun
2003Stacy Finz San Francisco Chronicle
2002Stephanie Warsmith Akron Beacon Journal
2001Brigid O’Malley Naples Daily News
2000Tom Searls Charleston Gazette
1999Sean Gardiner The Florida Times-Union.
1998Mark Truby The Huntington Herald-Dispatch
1997Andy Furillo The Sacramento Bee
1996Pamela Hill Northwest Arkansas Times
1995Melvin Claxton Virgin Islands Daily News
1994William Hermann The Arizona Republic
1993J.D. Mullane Bucks County Courier Times
1992Scott Bowles The Detroit News
1991Diana K. Sugg The Sacramento Bee