Behind The Lens Episode 187: ‘It looked like JPSO was digging up dirt on this teenager’

Reporter Nick Chrastil looks into the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office expansive requests for search warrants of a 16-year-old who died in custody. Reporter Michael Isaac Stein tells us about the New Orleans Office of Inspector General's plans for 2023.

This week on Behind The Lens, in the days immediately following the death of a 16-year-old autistic juvenile who died while in custody, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office sought several search warrants in order to dig deeper into the teenager’s past. 

At a budget hearing, the New Orleans Office of Inspector General outlined a wide range of investigations and audits it has planned for city departments and agencies including into several that have come under fire in recent months. 

Our guests this week are Lens reporters Nick Chrastil, Michael Isaac Stein and editor Marta Jewson.

You can also listen to Behind The Lens on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other services.

Carolyne Heldman

Carolyne Heldman has been in media for 35 years, most recently as Executive Director at an NPR member station in Colorado where she was responsible for new multi-platform content initiatives, strategic planning, research, branding, and non-traditional revenue generation. During her tenure she also created and launched four weekly news, public affairs and cultural affairs programs and monthly live Town Hall broadcasts. Heldman moved to New Orleans last summer with her husband and canine companion and they live happily in The Marigny.