Chronicle reporters Jennifer Gollan and Susie Neilson win prestigious Hillman Prize
Chronicle reporters Jennifer Gollan and Susie Neilson were awarded the prestigious Hillman Prize for newspaper journalism Tuesday for their investigation of police pursuits and their often devastating consequences.
Gollan and Neilson's investigation found that high-speed chases frequently begin with minor offenses or traffic infractions and often kill passengers or bystanders rather than fleeing drivers. In recent years, thousands of people across the United States have been killed — a disproportionate number of them Black and Latino — even as agencies and officials vowed to reduce the toll.
Awarded by the Sidney Hillman Foundation, the Hillman Prizes celebrate journalists who 'pursue investigative reporting and deep storytelling in service of the common good.' Judges honor a single piece of newspaper journalism annually, along with giving prizes for work in magazines, books, broadcast, opinion and analysis, and reporting on racial and economic justice.
Other winners this year include Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti's report on extremists committing violence with impunity in Israel for the New York Times Magazine, NBC News Studios and MSNBC Films' series on Sing Sing Correctional Facility led by journalist Dan Slepian, whose reporting helped exonerate six men, and author Jonathan Blitzer's book 'Everyone Who is Gone is Here' on the intertwined forces that impact migration between Central America and the U.S.
'This is incredible company to be in, and is a testament to Jennifer and Susie's determination to get to the bottom of this crisis,' said Demian Bulwa, who as the Chronicle's director of news co-edited the investigation. 'By doing the hard work of studying every fatal police chase, they allowed readers to understand a shocking systemic failure and who is responsible.'
For 'Fast and Fatal,' Gollan and Neilson spent a year compiling statistics from a range of sources to create a first-of-its-kind national database of fatalities from police pursuits. They uncovered 3,336 deaths from 2017 through 2022, including 15 police officers and at least 551 bystanders. Tens of thousands of additional people were injured by the pursuits.
The reporters found that many chases that result in deaths or injuries began after low-level offenses, and the officers involved rarely faced repercussions.
'Fast and Fatal' was edited by Jesse Marx, Dan Kopf, Bulwa and Lisa Gartner, with copy editing by Michael Mayer. Visuals were by Stephen Lam, Jon Cherry and Liz Sanders. Chronicle Visual Director Nicole Frugé edited the visuals, with video production and annotations by Daymond Gascon and icons by John Blanchard. Alex K. Fong and Sophie D'Amato provided design and development, with additional development from Hearst DevHub's Danielle Rindler and Janie Haseman. Danielle Mollette-Parks, the Chronicle's former creative director who passed away in December 2023, contributed to the project's design.
'Fast and Fatal' previously tied with another Chronicle investigation in its division of the IRE Awards, given by the Investigative Reporters & Editors journalism nonprofit, and was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting. It also won a Sidney Award, given by the Sidney Hillman Foundation to recognize an exceptional piece of journalism published in the previous month.
The project has had a swift impact. In response to the Chronicle's report, legislators and policing experts have called for better data on pursuit outcomes and new national guidelines for chases.
About The San Francisco Chronicle The San Francisco Chronicle (www.sfchronicle.com) is the largest newspaper in Northern California and the second largest on the West Coast. Acquired by Hearst in 2000, The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 by Charles and Michael de Young and has been awarded six Pulitzer Prizes for journalistic excellence. Follow us on Twitter at @SFChronicle
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