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Breaking The Law Enforcement Officer Code Of Silence

WUNC News | By Frank Stasio,
Laura Pellicer
Published October 14, 2016 at 12:51 PM EDT
Reginald Newberne, a former North Carolina State Trooper, who recently won a whistleblower case.
Laura Pellicer
Reginald Newberne, a former North Carolina State Trooper, who recently won a whistleblower case.
Reginald Newberne, a former North Carolina State Trooper, who recently won a whistleblower case.
Credit Laura Pellicer
Reginald Newberne, a former North Carolina State Trooper, who recently won a whistleblower case.

A former North Carolina State trooper won a $3.75 million verdict in a long-running whistleblower case. State trooper Reginald Newberne claims that in 2000, a fellow officer told Newberne he injured his hand while punching a teen suspect. Newberne says he was hesitant about filling out an official report, but he later offered a detailed account of the incident to his superiors. Newberne was subsequently fired from his position in the Highway Patrol for a violation of the “truthfulness directive”.

 Host Frank Stasio talks with former North Carolina State Trooper Reginald Newberne.

A Wake County jury awarded Newberne the verdict for the department’s violation of whistleblower protection laws. Host Frank Stasio talks with Newberne about the challenges of speaking out as a law enforcement officer and how being a whistleblower has affected his life.

Copyright 2016 North Carolina Public Radio
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.
See stories by Frank Stasio
Laura Pellicer
Laura Pellicer is a producer with The State of Things (hyperlink), a show that explores North Carolina through conversation. Laura was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, a city she considers arrestingly beautiful, if not a little dysfunctional. She worked as a researcher for CBC Montreal and also contributed to their programming as an investigative journalist, social media reporter, and special projects planner. Her work has been nominated for two Canadian RTDNA Awards. Laura loves looking into how cities work, pursuing stories about indigenous rights, and finding fresh voices to share with listeners. Laura is enamored with her new home in North Carolina—notably the lush forests, and the waves where she plans on moonlighting as a mediocre surfer.
See stories by Laura Pellicer