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.
Learn more about the 2024 winner: ‘A really gutsy piece of journalism’ on police response to the death of a woman in BDSM
| Year | Name(s) | Story | News Organization |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Brett Murphy | "Words of Conviction: Tracing a Junk Science Through the Justice System" | ProPublica |
| 2022 | Meribah 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) |
| 2021 | Eric 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) |
| 2020 | Kyle Hopkins | "Lawless" | Anchorage Daily News |
| 2019 | Gary Harki | "Jailed in Crisis" | The Virginian-Pilot |
| 2018 | Topher Sanders and Ben Conarck | "Walking While Black" | ProPublica, Florida Times Union |
| 2017 | Jennifer Bjorhus and Kelly Smith and the investigative team | "A Cry for Help" | Minneapolis Star Tribune |
| 2016 | Ken Armstrong, T. Christian Miller | An Unbelievable Story of Rape | The Marshall Project, ProPublica |
| 2015 | Brad Heath | “Fugitives Next Door” | USA TODAY |
| 2014 | Reporter Megan O’Matz and Database Editor John Maines | “Cops, Cash, Cocaine” | South Florida Sun Sentinel |
| 2013 | Ryan Gabrielson | “Broken Shield” | Center for Investigative Reporting’s California Watch |
| 2012 | Gina Barton | “Both Sides of the Law” | The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel |
| 2011 | Cris Barrish | The News Journal | |
| 2010 | Mark Puente | The Plain Dealer | |
| 2009 | Karyn Spencer | Omaha World-Herald | |
| 2008 | Jonathan Schuppe | The Newark Star-Ledger | |
| 2007 | Robert Rogers | The Sun | |
| 2006 | John Diedrich | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Related Stories | |
| 2005 | Amber Hunt Martin | Detroit Free Press | |
| 2004 | Del Quentin Wilber | Baltimore Sun | |
| 2003 | Stacy Finz | San Francisco Chronicle | |
| 2002 | Stephanie Warsmith | Akron Beacon Journal | |
| 2001 | Brigid O’Malley | Naples Daily News | |
| 2000 | Tom Searls | Charleston Gazette | |
| 1999 | Sean Gardiner | The Florida Times-Union. | |
| 1998 | Mark Truby | The Huntington Herald-Dispatch | |
| 1997 | Andy Furillo | The Sacramento Bee | |
| 1996 | Pamela Hill | Northwest Arkansas Times | |
| 1995 | Melvin Claxton | Virgin Islands Daily News | |
| 1994 | William Hermann | The Arizona Republic | |
| 1993 | J.D. Mullane | Bucks County Courier Times | |
| 1992 | Scott Bowles | The Detroit News | |
| 1991 | Diana K. Sugg | The Sacramento Bee |