'Deadly Force:' An Investigation Into Harnett County Law Enforcement

WUNC | By Laura Lee,

Published May 3, 2016 at 12:12 PM EDT

Harnett County residents have accused law enforcement officials of aggressive behavior and overstepping their authority.

A Sheriff’s deputy killed a man after entering his home without a warrant, and his family wants answers. Prison officers tased an inmate and left him in a cell where he died 20 minutes later. The entire incident was recorded on surveillance video.

A new series by the News and Observer uncovers multiple incidents of “Deadly Force.” Host Frank Stasio talks with News and Observer investigative reporter Mandy Locke.

News and Observer investigative reporter Mandy Locke expounds on her new series, 'Deadly Force'.

Laura Lee

Laura Lee began her journalism career as a producer and booker at NPR. She returned to her native North Carolina to manage The State of Things, a live daily statewide show on WUNC. After working as a managing editor of an education journalism start-up, she became a writer and editor at a national education publication, Edutopia. She then served as the news editor at Carolina Public Press, a statewide investigative newsroom. In 2022, she worked to build collaborative coverage of elections administration and democracy in North Carolina.

Laura received her master’s in journalism from the University of Maryland and her bachelor’s degree in political science and J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Frank Stasio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.

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