On Our Watch
When correctional officer Valentino Rodriguez first stepped behind prison walls, he wasn't just starting a job, he was joining a family. What he didn’t know was that he was now bound by an unwritten code that would ultimately test his loyalty to his oath and his fellow officers. Five years later, Valentino's sudden death would raise questions from the FBI, his family and his mentor in the elite investigative unit where they both worked. This season, join us as we follow in Valentino’s footsteps to uncover the secrets hidden inside the most dangerous prison in California: New Folsom. If you have tips or feedback about this series please reach out to us at onourwatch@kqed.org.
Episodes
May 11, 2021 • 7 mins
What happens to police officers who use excessive force, tamper with evidence or sexually harass someone? In California, internal affairs investigations were kept secret from the public — until a recent transparency law unsealed thousands of files. On Our Watch is a limited-run podcast from NPR and KQED that brings you into the rooms where officers are interrogated and witnesses are questioned to find out who the system of police a...
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May 20, 2021 • 51 mins
In the small Northern California town of Rio Vista, a woman named Katheryn Jenks calls 911 for help. But after the police arrive, she ends up injured and inside a jail cell, facing serious charges. That same day, California Governor Jerry Brown signs a new law, State Senate Bill 1421, that opens up long hidden records of police misconduct, including files that might change the outcome of Jenks' case.
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May 27, 2021 • 50 mins
One officer in Los Angeles used car inspections to hit on women. In the San Francisco Bay Area, another woman says an officer used police resources to harass and stalk her. The California Highway Patrol quietly fired both of them for sexual harassment, but never looked into whether their misconduct was criminal. The second episode of On Our Watch examines the system of accountability for officers who abuse their power for sex and e...
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June 3, 2021 • 56 mins
After his son is shot and killed by a Richmond, Calif. police officer, a father looking for answers becomes a police transparency advocate. When the files about his son's death are released, they show an accountability system that seems to hang on one question: did the officer fear for their life? And in a rare interview, we hear from the officer who pulled the trigger.
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June 10, 2021 • 51 mins
A 16-year-old Black kid walks into a gas station in Stockton, Calif. to buy gummy worms for his little sister. When the teen gets in an argument with the clerk over a damaged dollar bill, a white officer in plainclothes decides to intervene — with force. In the fourth episode of On Our Watch, we trace the ripple effects of this incident over the next 10 years in a department trying to address racism and bias. But can the chief's ef...
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June 17, 2021 • 54 mins
An officer is repeatedly disciplined for not turning in his police reports on time. A mom goes to the police asking for help with her missing daughters. In the fifth episode of On Our Watch, we look at what can happen when police don't follow through on reports of victimization, and an accountability process that doesn't want to examine those failures.
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June 24, 2021 • 42 mins
Fellow officers long suspected a veteran detective in Antioch, Calif., was leaking operational police secrets to a drug dealer. For years, the department didn't act on their concerns. Even after the detective was finally fired in 2017, his record remained secret. In episode six of On Our Watch we look at the incentives departments have to investigate dishonest cops and what the secrecy around police misconduct means for criminal de...
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July 8, 2021 • 70 mins
One of the first police shootings to be captured on cell phone, millions saw Bay Area Rapid Transit police Officer Johannes Mehserle fire a single, fatal gunshot into Oscar Grant's back as the 22-year-old lay face down on the train station platform. Now, a lawsuit filed by NPR member station KQED has forced BART to comply with California's 2019 police transparency law, and release never-before-heard tapes from inside that investiga...
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October 1, 2021 • 16 mins
Less than six weeks after On Our Watch published an episode examining the shooting and death of Oscar Grant, California's Attorney General Rob Bonta opened an external investigation into the 12-year-old case. In a wide-ranging interview with On Our Watch's Sukey Lewis, Bonta talks about California's systemic issues in policing, his efforts at addressing them and says the Oscar Grant case remains unresolved. We also look at new poli...
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January 23, 2024 • 2 mins
We’re back with a second season of On Our Watch from KQED! “New Folsom” traces the footsteps of two whistleblowers in an elite investigative unit in California’s most dangerous prison. Host Sukey Lewis and co-reporter Julie Small piece together a gripping narrative about broken promises and unwritten rules. It’s a story about who gets hurt when the system that promises to keep us safe is bent on protecting itself. New episodes drop...
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February 6, 2024 • 54 mins
Soon after correctional officer Valentino Rodriguez starts working at New Folsom prison, he gets caught up in a bad incident. An incarcerated man ends up in the hospital with horrific injuries, and the prison starts an investigation. Valentino feels pressured to back up his fellow officers' version of the story, even though he thinks it might not be the truth. Then he gets an opportunity he's dreamed of-- to join an elite unit inve...
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February 13, 2024 • 51 mins
Consumed with stress and fed up with how he’s being treated, Valentino Rodriguez reaches a breaking point at work. A veteran officer and mentor to Valentino starts looking into the murder that happened in the dayroom. Valentino and Mimy get married, then Valentino goes in for a final meeting with the warden of New Folsom.
Resources
If you are currently in crisis, you can dial 988 [U.S.] to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Li...
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February 20, 2024 • 61 mins
Valentino’s unexpected death just days after a confidential meeting with the prison’s warden leaves his grieving father with a tangle of questions and suspicions. When law enforcement and prison leadership fail to act, Val Sr. finds an ally in Sgt. Kevin Steele, a senior officer who’d taken Valentino under his wing. The two men have a shared mission–to find justice for Valentino.
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February 27, 2024 • 62 mins
How did Sgt. Kevin Steele go from being a true believer in the institution of New Folsom to writing an explosive memo hoping to tear it down? We sift through video evidence, interrogation tapes and internal reports to find glimpses of his transformation. But when he feels his reports of corruption are ignored—he takes an even more drastic step.
Resources
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March 5, 2024 • 55 mins
Valentino Rodriguez Sr. is on the treadmill one morning when he gets a call—Sgt. Kevin Steele is dead. Val Sr. has lost not only his friend, but his partner in their shared quest to find the truth. A meeting with the FBI provides few answers, even as new questions arise about why a second whistleblower from New Folsom has lost his life.
Resources
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March 12, 2024 • 68 mins
The team digs deep into the homicide of Luis Giovanny Aguilar—the murder in the day room that Officer Valentino Rodriguez was tasked to write a report about, and that had consumed Sgt. Kevin Steele up until the last day of his life. We track down each of the men who took part in the stabbing to find out: did officers also play a role?
Resources
If you are currently in crisis, you can dial 988 [U.S.] to reach the National Suicide a...
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April 2, 2024 • 74 mins
We get to listen in on confidential interviews conducted by Sgt. Kevin Steele before his death. Plus, we finally get to see surveillance footage from inside the B8 unit that sheds new light on the murder of Luis Giovanny Aguilar.
Editor’s note: After this episode first aired on April 2, 2024, CDCR finally located Valentino Rodriguez’s supplemental report about the murder of Luis Giovanny Aguilar that we reference in this episode. ...
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April 9, 2024 • 85 mins
After his son’s death, Valentino Rodriguez Sr. waited for the warden of New Folsom prison to call him. That call never came. In our season finale, we walk through the gates of New Folsom to ask the warden for answers. We also get a rare glimpse inside the world of correctional officer discipline and hear from Sgt. Kevin Steele in his own words.
Mental health resources
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May 21, 2024 • 39 mins
Sukey sits down with Mary Inman and Poppy Alexander, two whistleblower attorneys who talk about the cost of speaking up, and unpack the playbook that employers use to keep people quiet. They also discuss a shift in thinking that can protect both whistleblowers and their organizations.
Mental health resources
If you are currently in crisis, you can dial 988 [U.S.] to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
SAMHSA National H...
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June 4, 2024 • 44 mins
Reporting on prisons from the outside is often difficult; it’s a closed and secretive world. But there is also important reporting being done by people who are inside prison, which comes with dangers of its own. Sukey and Julie sit down with two formerly incarcerated journalists, Rahsaan Thomas and Jesse Vasquez, to talk about the challenges and opportunities of prison reporting.
Rahsaan Thomas is the Executive Director of Empower...
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