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Ben Conarck

Ben

Ben Conarck joined The Baltimore Banner as a criminal justice reporter in July 2022. Previously, he worked for the Miami Herald as a healthcare reporter and led the newspaper’s award-winning coverage on the coronavirus pandemic. He was a member of the investigative team studying the forensics of Surfside’s Champlain Towers South collapse, work that was recognized with a staff Pulitzer Prize for breaking news. Prior to his time in Miami, Conarck was an investigative reporter covering criminal justice at the Florida Times-Union, where he received the Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award and the Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting for his series with ProPublica on racial profiling by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

The latest from Ben Conarck

Bishop Jaron Spriggs, brother of 70-year-old Pytorcarcha Brooks, testifies in front of Baltimore City Council on Wednesday.
Brother of 70-year-old woman killed by police calls for reforming city’s crisis response
The brother of 70-year-old Pytorcarcha Brooks, who was shot and killed by Baltimore Police officers last month, demanded “action” in response to his sister’s death — a tragedy, he said, that should have never taken place.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers gather for a briefing before an enforcement operation, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in Silver Spring, Md.
An ICE officer told an angry crowd he had a warrant before a Baltimore County arrest. He lied.
ICE officers arrested a Honduran man, Adolfo Nimrod Hernandez-Ramos, because they suspected he was undocumented and he lived near their intended target.
The Prisoner Rights Information System of Maryland wrote the state attorney general and corrections secretary last week to raise concerns in the prison system, particularly at facilities on the Eastern Shore and in the Hagerstown area.
‘Indefinite lockdowns’ are keeping prisoners in nearly 24-hour confinement, group says
The Prisoner Rights Information System of Maryland put the state on notice over constitutional violations it's attributing to "indefinite lockdowns" at state prisons.
A photo of the fallen fence at Roxbury Correctional Institution on Friday, shared by a prison employee who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
A Maryland prison has a security fence problem. It nearly fell down again
Compromised and aging fencing at a medium-security prison in Hagerstown has put the facility under strain
At a press conference on Wednesday, Baltimore Police released body camera footage depicting the final moments of 70-year-old Pytorcarcha Brooks, who was shot and killed on June 25.
‘I’m going hot with a Taser’: Baltimore Police broke down door before shooting 70-year-old
Police on Wednesday released body camera footage depicting the final moments of 70-year-old Pytorcarcha Brooks, who was shot and killed on June 25 in her West Baltimore home by officers.
Jeffrey Kluver, 35, of Dundalk, died on Sunday while in custody at the Baltimore Central Booking & Intake Center.
A Dundalk man died in a Baltimore jail. His family hasn’t received any answers.
Jeffrey Kluver, 35, of Dundalk, died on Sunday while in custody at the Baltimore Central Booking & Intake Center.
Baltimore Police forensics technicians document the scene of a shooting on the 2700 block of Mosher Street in June.
This is the most crucial, unanswered question about the West Baltimore police shooting
Baltimore Police’s fatal shooting of a 70-year-old woman highlights the department’s struggles to train its officers in de-escalation.
6/28/22—the exterior of the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse.
Baltimore sheriff probes courthouse employee for allegedly inviting ICE to detain someone
ICE agents detained a man at the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse last week, sparking an investigation of a corrections department employee.
Howard County officials transported residents of a senior healthcare facility in Ellicott City to other locations after a late-night flood caused by a broken sprinkler pipe.
Broken sprinkler pipe displaces 74 residents at Ellicott City senior facility
Fire and rescue units moved the residents to other facilities overnight while relocating dozens of others within the campus.
The Maryland State Police logo.
Pedestrian killed in hit-and-run on I-95 in Harford County
A 33-year-old man was killed in a hit-and-run crash on Interstate 95 north of Baltimore early Sunday, according to Maryland State Police.
According to fire officials, crews found multiple fires coming from manhole covers.
BGE investigates cause of Saturday’s underground fire in downtown Baltimore
A fire that sparked underground in downtown Baltimore on Saturday is under investigation.
Police Commissioner Richard Worley described the fatal shooting as tragic, but praised responding officers for following their training.
Bodycam footage shows police chase, fatal shooting of arabber in West Baltimore
Police on Monday released video showing the fatal police shooting of Bilal “BJ” Abdullah, a beloved arabber in Baltimore.
ICE agents are clashing with residents, putting local police in the middle
The tensions surfacing in the Baltimore area are unlikely to ease anytime soon.
Protesters march around Patterson Park in Baltimore on Saturday, during one of many "No Kings" protests being held around the country.
‘No Kings’ protests sweep Maryland, with thousands attending peaceful events
Thousands of protesters filled streets and parks across Maryland on Saturday as part of the nationwide “No Kings” demonstrations, one of the largest coordinated protest actions of the year against President Donald Trump’s administration.
Javarick Gantt was murdered by an unknown assailant at a state-run jail in the city in 2022.
Cascading failures by Baltimore jail staff led to deaf man’s brutal murder, lawsuit says
For years, the state corrections department refused to explain the circumstances leading up to Javarick Gantt’s murder.
Attorney hired by Maryland for Baltimore jail lawsuit withdraws after AI-generated filings
An attorney hired by Maryland to defend its corrections department over Baltimore jail conditions has resigned from the case after using ChatGPT.
Law firm defending Baltimore jail conditions faces sanctions over AI-generated filings
An Alabama courtroom scandal over using generative AI could have implications for decades-old lawsuit over Baltimore jail conditions.
What we know about 36 in-custody deaths auditors say should have been ruled homicides
The Banner attempted to reach relatives and attorneys associated with each of the 36 deaths that the audit found should have been ruled as homicides.
Their loved ones’ deaths at the hands of police may have been wrongfully classified. Now what?
The massive audit called for classifying at least 36 in-custody police deaths as homicides, re-opening old wounds and raising new questions in Maryland.
Dr. Jeff Kukucka, center, joined by Gov. Wes Moore and Attorney General Anthony Brown at a press conference at the State House in Annapolis to announce the release a wide-ranging independent audit of nearly 90 in-custody deaths spanning 2003 to 2019.
Here’s what you need to know about Maryland’s sweeping audit of police-custody deaths
The audit’s implications reach far beyond a finding of 36 wrongfully classified deaths.
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