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Portrait of Maria Cramer

Maria Cramer

My job, along with the other police reporters at The Times, is to help readers understand the mammoth organization that is the New York Police Department. The beat ranges from reporting on breaking news to enterprise stories that examine crime trends, policing strategies and how public safety decisions by city leaders affect the average New Yorker.

I usually work out of “the shack” — a nickname that once referred to a set of windowless offices for the press on the second floor of police headquarters at 1 Police Plaza; however at the beginning of 2024 reporters were moved to a trailer outside the building. I am also out on the street, meeting sources, attending community meetings, sitting in courtrooms and listening to briefings and speeches by police leaders or their critics.

I got my start in 1999 at The Trenton Times, a local newspaper in New Jersey’s capital, where I covered municipal and school board meetings. There, I learned how to be accountable to the people I covered and quickly figured out that if you made a mistake, you would hear about it from that planning board member at the next meeting. More important, I learned to be accountable to readers and residents of the towns I covered, realizing how critical it was that I write clearly and accurately about why tax rates were going up or how a planned mall complex would affect the local environment.

From there, I went to The Boston Globe, where I covered the police, state and federal courts and worked on Spotlight, the newspaper’s investigations team.

In 2019, I was hired to cover breaking news for The Times and did a short but very fun stint in the Travel section. In 2023, I returned to my law enforcement roots when the Metro section brought me on as the new police bureau chief. I strive to treat the beat the way I treated local reporting as a cub reporter in Trenton, understanding that I’m in a unique and privileged position to explain a vast, complicated organization to the public.

Like all reporters, I live in terror of errors, no matter how small. It is crucial that our stories are accurate and fair, and I’ve spent sleepless nights going over a story even after I fact-checked it half a dozen times. Just as important as avoiding mistakes is correcting them. If I learn there is an error in a story, I immediately call an editor to fix it. It’s not fun to see a correction at the bottom of a story, but it’s critical that readers understand how serious we are about fixing mistakes.

I keep an open mind about every story, realizing that a tip about something that may seem black and white could turn out to be far more complex and nuanced. I never lie about who I am. I don’t make political donations and I keep any opinions about politics to myself. All Times journalists are committed to upholding the standards of integrity outlined in our Ethical Journalism Handbook.

I check email regularly and love to hear from readers and tipsters. Please reach out.

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