Patricia Murphy

Reporter

Patricia Murphy is an award-winning reporter at KUOW Public Radio in Seattle focusing on military affairs, veterans' issues and criminal justice. She began her career at WBUR Boston in 1994 and has worked at KUOW since 2000.{C}

Patricia's most recent series, “Less than Honorable,” investigated how the military handles more than 3,000 sexual assault cases each year. Her 2011 collaboration with the Seattle Times, “The Weight of War,” looked at heavy loads carried by troops and the increase in chronic orthopedic injuries as a result; the series won a national award for Excellence in Health Care Journalism from the Association of Healthcare Journalists. She also received a national Edward R. Murrow Award for a documentary on IV drug use and has had her work recognized with awards from the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Society of Professional Journalists.

In 2012, Patricia was inducted into the Dart Society, a network of journalists who cover trauma, conflict and social injustice. In a briefing document accidentally sent to her by an Army public affairs officer, Patricia was described as “a professional, no-nonsense reporter who comes to the table fully prepared,” though her colleagues at KUOW might also describe her as the station cut-up.

Patricia holds a BA from Emerson College in Boston.

Pages

Criminal Justice Debate
5:52 pm
Tue March 5, 2013

Washington House Committee Considers Eliminating Death Penalty

Credit Washington Department of Corrections
View from the lethal injection gurney at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

  A House committee in Olympia will hear public testimony Wednesday for a bill that would abolish capital punishment in Washington. House Bill 1504 would eliminate the death penalty in favor of life without parole.

Read more
Sequestration Gridlock
4:05 pm
Fri March 1, 2013

Sequestration Suspends King County Housing Vouchers

The King County Housing Authority has stopped issuing new Section 8 vouchers. The program is federally subsidized through the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The move is a result of the impending reduction in those funds due to sequestration.

Read more
Crime fighting tool
9:42 am
Thu February 28, 2013

Seattle Police Using Data-Driven Program To Prevent Property Crime

Credit AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes
In this photo taken June 29, 2012, UCLA anthropology professor Jeff Brantingham displays computer generated predictive policing zones at the Los Angeles Police Department Unified Command Post.

The Seattle Police Department is using a new software program designed to help predict where crimes are most likely to occur in the city.

Read more
Ethics Fine
9:28 am
Thu February 28, 2013

Former DOC Communications Director Fined For Ethics Violations

A state ethics board has fined the former state Department of Corrections communications director for violations. The board determined that Belinda Stewart used state time and resources to run corrections oriented nonprofits.

Read more
Military Families
9:55 am
Thu February 14, 2013

Military Marriage Endures Despite Multiple Deployments

Credit Photo courtesy Stephanie Silsby
The Silsby family of Lacey welcomes home dad Chris Silsby from his latest deployment with 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Love is a popular theme today and for retailers, it's a cash cow of hearts and roses. But relationships that endure take work. For the Silsby family of Lacey the secret is weathering change.

Read more
Freedom Of Information
7:06 pm
Mon February 11, 2013

Army Keeps A Lid On Madigan PTSD Investigation

Credit Patricia Murphy
Army Secretary John McHugh talks with reporters at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The Army says it won’t release the investigation into how Madigan Army Medical Center handled some soldiers' diagnoses for post-traumatic stress disorder. The denial comes one week after the Secretary of the Army visited Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Tacoma, to announce the completion of an Army-wide review on the same subject.

Read more
Troops And Mental Health
12:02 pm
Mon February 4, 2013

Group Wants More Recognition For Soldiers With Post Traumatic Stress

Credit Photo courtesy US Marine Corp
Purple Heart medal

Army Secretary John McHugh will be at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Monday. He’ll be briefing reporters on the results of an Army-wide review of soldier behavioral health evaluations for post-traumatic stress disorder. The comprehensive review was the result of a smaller investigation that began after a forensic psychiatry team at Madigan Army Medical Center in Lakewood was found to have reversed some soldiers' PTSD diagnoses.

Read more
Dangerous Jobs
11:46 am
Fri January 25, 2013

Corrections Officers Say Prisons Still Unsafe Two Years After Biendl Death

Credit Courtesy/Karen Boe
Sgt. Boe holds the badge of honor made by his daughter.

Runners in a 5K race will wind through the grounds of the Monroe Correctional Complex on Sunday to remember Corrections Officer Jayme Biendl. Tuesday will mark the two years since Biendl was found strangled in the chapel at the prison.

Read more
Joint Base Lewis-McChord Murder Case
10:25 am
Fri January 18, 2013

Military Judge Orders Sanity Review For Soldier Accused In Massacre

Credit High Desert Warrior

Attorneys for Staff Sergeant Robert Bales say they’re unsure if they’ll pursue a mental health defense in the case. 

But if they do, the judge has ordered that the soldier must undergo a so-called sanity board review.

Bales is accused of murdering 16 Afghan civilians and wounding six others in an overnight rampage last March.

Read more
Suicide Prevention
3:56 pm
Mon December 17, 2012

Military Suicide Prevention Should Include Personal Weapon Disclosure, Retired General Suggests

Credit US Army
General Peter W. Chiarelli, former Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, retired

Suicide is now the number one cause of death for US troops. Nationally, more than two-thirds of suicides of active duty troops involve firearms. Most are personal weapons.

Former vice chief of staff for the Army General Peter Chiarelli wants commanders to have the ability to talk to distressed troop members about their private weapons as part of an effort to reverse the trend.

Read more

Pages