Spotlight’s ‘Snitch City’: The podcast that brought a narrative to life

• Republicans won two special elections in Florida, returning to their 220-seat House majority. And despite Elon Musk spending millions on the race, the Democratic-aligned candidate won a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, preserving liberals’ narrow majority.
• Two dozen states, including much of New England, sued to block the Trump administration from cutting $11 billion in state public health grants.
• Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the suspect charged with killing the UnitedHealthcare CEO on a Manhattan sidewalk last year.

Yesterday we dropped the fifth and final episode of the Globe’s latest podcast, “Spotlight: Snitch City.” If you haven’t checked it out, I highly recommend that you do.

The podcast brings the team’s three-part narrative series about confidential informants to life for the ear (our video team has made a visually stunning version of the podcast on YouTube as well).

“Spotlight: Snitch City” has it all when it comes to great podcasts. It’s built on a foundation of deep investigative reporting, reams of documents, and solid sources. It introduces compelling characters and takes listeners on a jaw-dropping journey through the darkest corners of policing. There are cliffhangers at the end of each episode that will leave you wanting more. And you’ll walk away thinking differently about the criminal justice system’s reliance on police informants, and why so much of it happens in secret.

Early on, we had a hunch that this would make for a great podcast, so we took an “audio first” approach to the investigation. Spotlight editor Brendan McCarthy and I gave reporter Dugan Arnett a crash course in audio recording and podcasting basics; then Dugan recorded interviews as he went about his reporting.

The written and audio series follow different narrative arcs, but they both reflect the Spotlight Team findings, detailing how in the decades since America declared war on drugs, law enforcement’s reliance upon informants has become nearly absolute. It is impossible to overstate their importance. Their tips can launch investigations, sway judges, and upend lives. Yet police control and direct this vast, anonymous army with virtually no oversight, no regulation, and no transparency.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in New Bedford, Mass., where the lack of official scrutiny has empowered police to use informants to take down dealers by almost any means necessary.

Here’s a quick overview of the podcast with some not-to-miss moments, with links to listen to each episode.

The podcast begins on the docks of New Bedford, where whispers about a rogue police officer harassing fishermen and stealing drugs come to a head aboard a scalloping boat late one night. It turns out that an officer named Jorge Santos is well known by New Bedford’s fishermen by a nickname, “pastillas” (or pills in Spanish). You won’t want to miss the end of the episode, where whistleblower Mark Raposo, also a New Bedford officer, explains how far he went to try to alert others about what Santos was up to. Raposo was nervous about talking to Dugan, our reporter, because he knew how much was on the line — and how speaking out could backfire on him.

🎧 Listen to Episode 1

Dugan received a desperate phone call from an informant we’re calling Daniel. Daniel always knew he’d be in danger if someone from his gang found out that he was a snitch. What he didn’t expect was being betrayed by police, including a New Bedford officer, Alex Polson, who was childhood friends with another member of Daniel’s gang. Listen to the phone conversations between Dugan and Daniel, as well as the tense exchanges between Polson and police investigators trying to get to the bottom of what happened.

🎧 Listen to Episode 2

This episode is about New Bedford’s police chief, Paul Oliveira. The Spotlight Team’s reporting shows there’s a dark backstory to Oliveira’s rise to the top of the department. One of the most gripping moments is when a former narcotics officer, Bobby Richard, tells Dugan the secret behind a major drug bust: that Oliveira allegedly let the informant in the case walk away with a kilo of cocaine.

🎧 Listen to Episode 3

When Frank “Rizzo” Simmons was a big-time drug dealer in New Bedford in the ‘90s, he went toe-to-toe with Oliveira, who was then a drug cop. After a major bust of Simmons’ headquarters, Oliveira tries to turn Simmons into an informant, but snitching goes against everything Simmons believes in. The next time Simmons is asked to cooperate with law enforcement, it’s harder to stay true to his code because he’s asked to snitch on Oliveira. Does he?

🎧 Listen to Episode 4

In the final episode of the series, Dugan and his colleague, Andrew Ryan, discuss Andrew’s dogged pursuit of critical documents. But Dugan also talks to two former New Bedford informants who tell shocking stories. The first: a woman who didn’t even know she was being used as an informant by the cop she was sleeping with. The second: a man who was Oliveira’s informant decades ago and who knows — better than anyone — how the police chief exploits the secrecy of this world. You will be shocked to hear how Oliveira’s old informant still fears the police chief and yet, somehow, still feels some affection for him.

🎧 Listen to Episode 5

• Here are eight takeaways from Spotlight’s Snitch City investigation and our key findings on confidential informants.
• After taking office, New Bedford’s police chief quickly purged police disciplinary files.
• The New Bedford mayor pushed back on the Spotlight report and asked for an FBI review of the findings.
• Here’s more on how we reported this story.

🧩 4 Across: Pigtail | 🥶 39º Sunny but cool

Boston

• Karen Read: Jury selection began in her retrial for allegedly killing her police officer boyfriend. From domestic abuse to drunk driving, see what prospective jurors were asked about.
• Red alert: T service on parts of the Red Line will be disrupted for the next month. (WBUR)

Massachusetts and New England

• Reconciled: Bill Parcells will enter the Patriots Hall of Fame as a contributor. He and owner Robert Kraft clashed decades ago, when Parcells was coach, but now say bygones are bygones.
• Set the record straight: Governor Maura Healey’s blanket pardon aimed to help hundreds of thousands with marijuana convictions. So far, fewer than 2,000 have had their records fixed.
• Moral quandary: When Wellesley’s non-tenure-track faculty went on strike, the school asked students to switch to classes that are still meeting — or risk losing credits.
• Animal cruelty: Massachusetts’ highest court ruled that people charged with it can claim a valid reason for using force.
• Fact check: New Hampshire Republicans said cutting business taxes would raise revenues by sparking economic growth. A new study shows it didn’t.

Trump administration

• Long talking: Senator Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, gave a 25-hour speech on the Senate floor to protest Trump’s agenda, the longest in the chamber’s history.
• Rümeysa Öztürk: The administration argued that a Boston judge lacks jurisdiction to decide whether ICE illegally arrested a Tufts PhD student because she’s no longer in Massachusetts.
• Comms crisis: Trump’s national security adviser and other officials used Gmail, which is even less secure than Signal, for government business. (WashPost)
• Political chameleon: This Massachusetts native backed Joe Biden and supported impeaching President Trump. Now he’s helping Trump and Musk upend the federal government.
• HHS layoffs: Health agencies began dismissing thousands of employees. Among those leaving are top officials who regulate tobacco and new drugs. (STAT)
• Money matters: The administration froze about $4.4 million in federal money for Planned Parenthood in New England and terminated $106 million for Massachusetts schools.
• Revenge tour: Trump announced a deal with a third law firm he targeted for punishment. This one employs Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris’s husband. (NYT)

The Nation

• Travel allowance: Alabama can’t prosecute people who help others leave the state to get abortions, a judge ruled. (Alabama Reflector)
• Parental control: Speaker Mike Johnson failed to kill a bipartisan effort to let lawmakers who are new parents vote remotely. The House could soon adopt it. (The Hill)
• Rumor mill: ESPN’s Pat McAfee amplified a salacious falsehood about a University of Mississippi freshman. She plans to take legal action. (Athletic)

By Teresa Hanafin, Globe Staff

⛱️ Cottage time: If you’re planning a vacation on the Cape but haven’t rented a place yet, don’t panic. But don’t procrastinate; things are picking up.

＄ The Fine Print: An online lender who charges 725 percent interest, long-term care insurance, and concert ticket refunds. Our consumer reporter tackles your problems.

🌊 Suggest Bora Bora: Celebrating a milestone birthday? Trade traditional gifts for shared experiences with family and friends. (HuffPost)

🪢 Here’s another idea: One shared experience could be to gather nine friends and sign up to pull a 21,000-pound duck boat across the Common to raise money for youth sports. (Boston.gov)

📸 Say cheese: Boaty McBoatface accidentally found an underwater camera that researchers think was set up 55 years ago to get a photo of the elusive Loch Ness monster. Yes, it is that Boaty McBoatface. (USA Today)

🍔 Becomes a health writer? “Ravenousness was in my job description.” What happens when a food writer goes on a weight-loss drug?

🦴 Speaking of food: There are lots of so-called shortfall nutrients that we don’t eat enough. But these four are the most critical. (HuffPost)

🐙 Dining report: A first look at Little Sage in the North End. In a city glutted with Italian food, this place was refreshing.

Thanks for reading Starting Point.

This newsletter was edited by Teresa Hanafin and produced by Bill Geshwender and Diamond Naga Siu.

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Kristin Nelson can be reached at kristin.nelson@globe.com.