Shocking Cop Corruption Trial Kicks Off in Baltimore

Coming up on today’s show:

• In 2017, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that they removed more than 81,000 people living inside the United States — a figure that represents a 37 percent increase from the year before. Ravi Ragbir, the executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York, was detained on January 11th during a regular check-in with ICE. His wife, Amy Gottlieb, shares his story. She’s also an immigrant rights activist and attorney with the American Friends Service Committee Northeast Region.

• The Baltimore Police Task Force trial begins this week for two former members of the Gun Trace Task Force. Six officers have pleaded guilty and four are expected to testify for the government. Brian Kuebler isan investigative reporter for ABC affiliate WMAR-TV in Baltimore and was in the courtroom as the police detective described shocking details behind their corrupt operation. He provides an update today on The Takeaway. 

• We’re now a year into the Trump presidency, and this week we’ve been cataloging the effects of the administration’s first year in office. So far, we’ve looked at the economy and the courts, and today we turn to the environment. Kendra Pierre-Louis, a climate reporter for The New York Times, weighs in.

• It’s been four months since Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico, and today around a third of the island is still without power. Many blame that slow and uneven recovery on PREPA, Puerto Rico’s power utility. It’s been accused of mismanagement and corruption for years, and this week Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello announced a plan to privatize PREPA, but not everyone’s on board. Journalist Kate Aronoff joins The Takeaway for the latest.

• Thousands of illicit massage parlors operate across the country, generating billions of dollars. Phillip Martin, senior investigative reporter at WGBH News, in collaboration with the New England Center for Investigative Reporting, has been looking into the lucrative business of erotic massage parlors in Massachusetts and elsewhere for a new series, and discusses the challenges that law enforcement face when it comes to prosecuting the alleged sex-traffickers behind them.

• As part of our ongoing coverage of the 45th anniversary of Roe V. Wade, we talk to Wendi Kent, an artist, photojournalist, and activist who has volunteered as a clinic escort and takes photos of protesters outside abortion clinics. Wendi became pregnant when she was 13 years old, and after visiting a clinic hoping to get counseling about abortion, she was given prenatal vitamins and wound up carrying her child to term. She was harassed on subsequent visits to the clinic to get prenatal care.

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich