Charles Rabin is The Miami Herald’s foremost chronicler of law enforcement practices and criminal justice reform, with a decade-long focus on police accountability in South Florida. His work sits at the intersection of civil rights advocacy and institutional analysis, employing both data journalism and narrative storytelling to drive policy discussions.
Rabin prioritizes stories with clear policy pathways, such as his 2024 examination of de-escalation training effectiveness across Miami-Dade precincts.
Successful pitches often incorporate Florida-specific datasets, like his use of FDLE arrest statistics to track discretionary charging patterns.
We trace Charles Rabin’s career as a stalwart observer of South Florida’s criminal justice system, beginning with his early days covering local precincts for community newspapers. His transition to The Miami Herald in the late 2000s marked a turning point, as he developed a specialty in analyzing police department operations through the dual lenses of public safety and civil rights.
Rabin’s 14-month investigation into Captain Javier Ortiz’s conduct combined FOIA requests with data journalism, revealing how 68% of use-of-force incidents involved minority suspects. His analysis of internal affairs documents showed a pattern of delayed disciplinary actions, leading to Miami PD’s first public audit of officer social media accounts.
“The gap between an officer’s sworn oath and their private digital persona has become the new frontier in police accountability.”
Through frame-by-frame analysis of 47 bodycam videos, Rabin identified three common escalation patterns in non-violent arrests. His reporting prompted the Miami-Dade Commission to allocate $2.1 million for de-escalation training, citing his findings that 62% of use-of-force incidents began with verbal confrontations.
This 2024 piece dissected the legal limbo surrounding an officer’s controversial arrest tactics, cross-referencing union contracts with civilian review board recommendations. Rabin’s revelation of a 120-day disciplinary statute of limitations led to proposed state legislation extending accountability windows.
Rabin consistently uses hyperlocal incidents to explore broader systemic issues, as seen in his analysis of how Miami’s police union contract compares to Tampa’s disciplinary protocols. Successful pitches should connect national reform models to specific South Florida communities.
His March 2024 piece correlating patrol patterns with census data demonstrates appetite for geospatial analysis of policing. Pitch opportunities: comparative studies of precinct-level complaint resolutions or resource allocation disparities.
With his ongoing monitoring of fired officers’ employment statuses, Rabin values sources who can provide updates on previously disciplined personnel. The 2023 follow-up on rehired officers during staffing shortages exemplifies this focus.
From bodycam footage analysis to social media monitoring tools, Rabin prioritizes tech’s role in modern law enforcement. Unexplored angles: predictive policing algorithms in Miami-Dade or facial recognition audit processes.
His 2022 series on civilian review board effectiveness established a framework for measuring public trust. Pitchworthy: New survey methodologies or comparative analyses of community outreach programs across Florida municipalities.
Awarded for his multi-part series on police union influence over disciplinary proceedings, recognized for its unprecedented access to arbitration hearing transcripts. The judging panel noted Rabin’s “relentless documentation of systemic obstacles to accountability.”
Honored for sustained coverage of racial disparities in low-level offense arrests, particularly his analysis showing black drivers were 4.3x more likely to receive citations during traffic stops. The award underscores Rabin’s commitment to equity-focused reporting.
A notorious city of Miami police captain has been fired after years of controversy over some of his actions — including racist social media posts and citizen complaints
Recent conflicts caught on video clips that have gone viral, are raising questions about whether police officers should have used brute force on people whose main offense appeared to be mouthing off to cops
Miami’s police chief, shown the photo posted on social media, said Officer Daniel Ubeda would be disciplined, though exactly how had not been determined
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