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Gina Barton

@writerbarton.bsky.social

931 followers 51 following 347 posts

Reporter at USA TODAY, producer and host of the true crime podcast Unsolved

Posts Replies Media

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 13h

Domestic violence has increased in 2026, CPD data shows buff.ly/P2nVtBK

Domestic violence has increased in 2026, CPD data shows

Cincinnati Police crime statistics show more than 1,600 domestic violence incidents through August this year. That's 200 more than the same time frame last year and 300 more than 2024.

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 15h

New statewide sexual assault kit tracking system to launch in Pa. buff.ly/Ehv6hKd

New statewide sexual assault kit tracking system to launch in Pa.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Pennsylvania is getting set to roll out a new program aimed at helping victims of sexual assault and bringing those committing the crimes to justice. A new statewide …

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Four Kids in One Faith-Healing Family Died. Authorities Could Do Nothing. buff.ly/ULX6dnz

Four Kids in One Faith-Healing Family Died. Authorities Could Do Nothing.

An exemption in Idaho law shields faith-healing parents from criminal prosecution for conduct that otherwise would be charged as neglect. It also keeps police and social workers from stepping in to…

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The Flock Backlash Catches Up to the Tech buff.ly/nwgDwtW

The Flock Backlash Catches Up to the Tech

From statehouse bans to audit workarounds, governments are scrambling to police the license-plate readers they rushed to install.

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Oakland police released from federal oversight after 23 years buff.ly/MV3qSK8

Oakland police released from federal oversight after 23 years

The Riders case exposed brutal beatings and corruption. After many setbacks and new scandals, a federal judge ruled the city can finally take back full control of OPD.

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Victims are ‘slipping through the cracks’ of Utah’s domestic violence law buff.ly/8sAG2s7

https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/victims-are-slipping-through-cracks-utahs-domestic-violence-law?utm_source=TMP-Newsletter&utm_campaign=2c369ed78f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_09_29_10_42&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5e02cdad9d-2c369ed78f-174530833

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

N.Y.P.D. Officers Used Flock Safety to Track License Plates buff.ly/Vc80CuG

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/nyregion/nyc-flock-nypd-surveillance-cameras.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20260928&instance_id=182666&nl=the-morning&regi_id=88588242&segment_id=227179&user_id=06be1b321a31d9d67575829c5905b483

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Manslaughter trial begins for 2 ex-Mississippi Police officers buff.ly/61d2bVH

Manslaughter trial begins for 2 ex-Capitol Police officers

Steven Frederick Jr. and Michael Lamar Rhinewalt, who are both white, were part of the crime suppression Flex Unit of the Capitol Police involved in the death of a Black man, Jaylen Lewis, on Sept.…

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Utah prosecutors say DNA evidence doesn't match man who spent decades on death row buff.ly/mNufgaF

https://apnews.com/article/utah-death-row-douglas-carter-8c980ee12535a23e263d17c1fd6c8971?utm_source=TMP-Newsletter&utm_campaign=c2895c4d18-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_09_28_10_39&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5e02cdad9d-c2895c4d18-174530833

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Whitmer directs MSP to investigate fatal crash following ICE pursuit in Grand Rapids buff.ly/Rt3KbUf

https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/whitmer-directs-msp-investigate-fatal-crash-following-ice-pursuit-grand-rapids?utm_source=TMP-Newsletter&utm_campaign=8066385319-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_09_25_10_41&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5e02cdad9d-8066385319-174530833

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Decades of harm: New York schools named in nearly 2,000 child sex abuse claims buff.ly/2uMjWhI

Decades of harm: New York schools named in nearly 2,000 child sex abuse claims

A law that opened a window for survivors to seek justice for past abuse also exposed how schools enabled alleged predators.

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Camp Mystic Owners Face Criminal Inquiry Over Deadly Flood, Warrants Show buff.ly/ADQInTO

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/us/camp-mystic-flood-investigation.html?utm_source=TMP-Newsletter&utm_campaign=dd135de81a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_09_24_10_32&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5e02cdad9d-dd135de81a-174530833

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Texas ordered to air condition all prisons by the end of 2029 buff.ly/7GAzce3

Texas ordered to air condition all prisons by the end of 2029

High temperatures violate the Constitution’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment, the judge ruled. Texas will appeal.

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

At Karaoke Night, These Exonerated New Yorkers Voice Their Freedom buff.ly/yyXYngE

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/us/karaoke-healing-exonerated-community.html?utm_source=TMP-Newsletter&utm_campaign=1298546499-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_09_21_10_37&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5e02cdad9d-1298546499-174530833

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Ninth Circuit overturns order requiring Oregon to house transgender women in women's prisons buff.ly/7pZBgvm

Ninth Circuit overturns order requiring Oregon to house transgender women in women's prisons

A three-judge panel made up of Trump appointees scolded a magistrate judge for relying on "stale statistics" and engaging in "baseless speculation."

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Florida has left mentally-ill defendants in jail for months past legal limits, lawsuit says buff.ly/37qS6fM

Florida has left mentally-ill defendants in jail for months past legal limits, lawsuit says

Florida is leaving mentally ill defendants to languish in county jails for months after judges order their transfer to psychiatric hospitals, often locking them in cramped solitary cells, according…

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Report: Immigration officer shoots, injures man in Austin buff.ly/OSMtpBz

Report: Immigration officer shoots, injures man in Austin

The reported shooting in Austin came more than two months after an ICE officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston.

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

New York Will Pay $24 Million to Family of Inmate Beaten to Death buff.ly/jBtmx2o

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/nyregion/robert-brooks-prison-settlement.html?utm_source=TMP-Newsletter&utm_campaign=1298546499-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_09_21_10_37&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5e02cdad9d-1298546499-174530833

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

DNA From Cigarette Leads to Arrest in Unsolved Murder buff.ly/kF8daLs

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/us/cigarette-dna-murder-case.html?utm_source=TMP-Newsletter&utm_campaign=971b9feb58-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_09_14_10_38&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5e02cdad9d-971b9feb58-174530833

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

UW-Madison students, records detail investigation of professor buff.ly/tyq62x6

UW-Madison students, records detail investigation of professor

Dietram Scheufele resigned after investigators determined he had sexual relationships with two students and engaged in unwelcome sexual conduct with one.

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Police Body Cameras Are Learning to Speak 50 Languages buff.ly/XIApR2e

Police Body Cameras Are Learning to Speak 50 Languages

Frederick, Md., is adding AI-powered live translation to officers’ body cameras, hoping to make everyday interactions with non-English-speaking residents easier and more effective.

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Anchorage Releases Sweeping Audit of Police Use of Force buff.ly/SAT7Jmk

Anchorage Releases Sweeping Audit of Police Use of Force

An independent review finds APD’s force incidents exceed rates in major Northwest departments and recommends broad reforms.

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Milwaukee police: Flock restrictions will apply to other license plate reader systems wisconsinwatch.org/2026/09/new-...

wisconsinwatch.org

Milwaukee police: Flock restrictions will apply to other license plate reader systems

All three of the Milwaukee Police Department’s automatic license plate reader systems will be subject to new security safeguards, department officials confirmed Wednesday.

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

UW-Madison police disciplined an officer over student interactions. The investigation raises more questions. wisconsinwatch.org/2026/09/wisc...

wisconsinwatch.org

UW-Madison police disciplined an officer over student interactions. The investigation raises more questions.

Two students complained to Greek life officials about Officer Diego Lema Hernandez, but the complaint was not forwarded to UWPD, which interviewed no students during its investigation.

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Wisconsin prisons hit record population as crowding strains staffing and programs wisconsinwatch.org/2026/08/wisc...

wisconsinwatch.org

Wisconsin prisons hit record population as crowding strains staffing and programs

Wisconsin’s prison population broke records this week with 23,854 behind bars. It’s a new milestone for a system that has been thousands of people over capacity for decades.

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Deaths of 2 Men in Los Angeles Police Custody Set Off Investigations www.nytimes.com/2026/09/02/u...

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/02/us/los-angeles-jail-inmate-beating.html?utm_source=TMP-Newsletter&utm_campaign=b23161a51a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_09_03_10_41&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5e02cdad9d-b23161a51a-174530833

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Senatobia police chief is fired after sending racist text messages - Mississippi Today mississippitoday.org/2026/09/01/s...

mississippitoday.org

Senatobia police chief is fired after sending racist text messages - Mississippi Today

Senatobia Police Chief Harold Vanderford submitted his resignation letter to city leaders days after Mississippi Today, Verite News and The New York Times revealed that he had frequently used racist…

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Pennsylvania police officer charged in fatal shooting of student who went to wrong house abcnews.com/US/pennsylva...

Pennsylvania police officer charged in fatal shooting of student who went to wrong house

Glenwood "Bubba" Pysher was fatally shot on Aug. 23.

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Teen Treatment Center CEO Accused of Unlawful Sexual Contact With Minor www.themarshallproject.org/2026/09/01/t...

themarshallproject.org

Teen Treatment Center CEO Accused of Unlawful Sexual Contact With Minor

Police say the head of Fox Run Center for Children and Adolescents drove nearly 200 miles to meet with someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl.

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Autopsy shows Tennessee National Guard fatally shot 20-year-old armed man in the back apnews.com/article/memp...

Autopsy shows Tennessee National Guard fatally shot 20-year-old armed man in the back

An autopsy shows that an armed man killed by the Tennessee National Guard was shot in the back. The report that Tyrin Johnson’s family shared with The Associated Press on Thursday contradicts…

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Can new evidence halt Willie Manning's execution? - Mississippi Today mississippitoday.org/2026/08/27/w...

mississippitoday.org

Can new evidence halt Willie Manning's execution? - Mississippi Today

Willie Manning has been on death row for 32 years after a jury convicted him in the 1992 murders of two Mississippi State University students. New evidence casts doubt on his guilt.

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

States Take Aim at Domestic Violence’s ‘Hidden Homicides’ www.governing.com/states-take-...

States Take Aim at Domestic Violence’s ‘Hidden Homicides’

Advocates say some killings may be overlooked when suspicious deaths are too quickly classified as suicides, overdoses or accidents. Several states are considering legislation aimed at identifying…

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Portland police chief says 2020 protest-response shortcomings in past: ‘Judge us ... where we’re at now today’ www.oregonlive.com/crime/2026/0...

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2026/08/portland-police-chief-says-2020-protest-response-shortcomings-in-past-judge-uswhere-were-at-now-today.html?utm_source=TMP-Newsletter&utm_campaign=6882d3d06d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_08_28_10_39&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5e02cdad9d-6882d3d06d-174530833

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Women Found Out Jail Strip Searches Were Recorded, Then They Changed the Law. www.themarshallproject.org/2026/08/27/w...

themarshallproject.org

Women Found Out Jail Strip Searches Were Recorded, Then They Changed the Law.

Women who organized to push for a new Colorado law hope it will become a model for other states.

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Our Flock camera investigation sparks police firings, arrests www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

Our Flock camera investigation sparks police firings, arrests

USA TODAY exposed troubling Flock camera search patterns across the country. Flock now blocks release of the data that made it possible.

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Wisconsin tracks police use of force, but the numbers are hard to compare wisconsinwatch.org/2026/08/wisc...

wisconsinwatch.org

Wisconsin tracks police use of force, but the numbers are hard to compare

Wisconsin law requires police agencies to report serious uses of force, but inconsistent standards make comparisons between departments difficult.

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Officer Charged With Violating Privacy for Recording Colleagues’ Racism

Officer Charged With Violating Privacy for Recording Colleagues’ Racism

The charges stem from recordings that Daniel Flores made over the course of 2024, when he was working in a Los Angeles police unit that recruited new officers.

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

House Democrats Say Direct-to-Door Gun Sales Rule Would Endanger Americans

House Democrats Say Direct-to-Door Gun Sales Rule Would Endanger Americans

The lawmakers warned the proposal would make gun trafficking easier while enriching President Donald Trump’s family.

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Georgia Father Is Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for His Child’s Mass Shooting

Georgia Father Is Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for His Child’s Mass Shooting

Colin Gray's sentencing comes at a time when more parents of school shooters are being held to account for their child's actions.

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Indigenous survivors of violence see fewer services after federal cuts

Indigenous survivors of violence see fewer services after federal cuts

A U.S. House committee hearing raised questions about public safety resources in Indian Country.

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Police keep losing their jobs for using Flock cameras to stalk people

Police keep losing their jobs for using Flock cameras to stalk people

Advocates say it’s too easy to abuse automated license plate reader technology.

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Before he fatally shot partner, Chicago police failed to place troubled cop under strict supervision

Before he fatally shot partner, Chicago police failed to place troubled cop under strict supervision

Carlos Baker was referred to a program that puts officers under intense oversight. Failing could mean “severe” discipline or firing. But Baker wasn't enrolled before he shot Officer Krystal Rivera…

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Federal Agents Were Told F.B.I. Will No Longer Investigate ICE Confrontations

Federal Agents Were Told F.B.I. Will No Longer Investigate ICE Confrontations

Senior officials deny such a change is in the works, despite guidance shared with agents around the country in recent days.

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

New Jersey Just Lost Its Assault Weapons Ban. Here’s Why That Matters for the Rest of the Country.

New Jersey Just Lost Its Assault Weapons Ban. Here’s Why That Matters for the Rest of the Country.

The Supreme Court is poised to rule such bans unconstitutional next year.

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Cities that block ICE could lose police, rape kit funding, DOJ says

Cities that block ICE could lose police, rape kit funding, DOJ says

Cities that don't allow ICE enforcement stand to lose federal funds for rape kits, police, and emergency services, Trump's DOJ threatens.

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

As local newspapers disappear, police oversight weakens

As local newspapers disappear, police oversight weakens

UB research finds that when local newspapers close, rape is more often classified as unfounded and deaths shift from homicides to suicides, weakening police accountability.

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Tiny patients, big fight: NICU parents win leave in 2 states and push for more buff.ly/PZWHjX7

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Brookings Institution Report: Over 100,000 Family Separations in Trump Crackdown buff.ly/c7l4t2p

Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Hear 911 call after 30 ICE detainees were pepper sprayed at Mesa site buff.ly/zQaMOnA

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Gina Barton @writerbarton.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Mayor Johnson expands alternate response effort for mental health emergencies buff.ly/buiQd6N

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