I am an award-winning investigative reporter based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

I worked as a reporter for CBC News in Hamilton for five years and am now available for freelance features, deep dives and editing assignments.

Have a story tip? Please drop me a line (kelly@kellyrbennett.com) or DM me on Twitter: @kellyrbennett.

Previously, I helped build the online nonprofit news organization Voice of San Diego and produced and reported weekly TV packages and live studio hits for NBC7 San Diego.

I contributed early research to the body of work that won a 2006 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. I grew up in Victoria, B.C.

Organizers of an anti-racism march on Dec. 1, 2014 met with Hamilton Police and heard confirmation the service collects information from people officers stop on the street. Here, Kayonne Christy, read a list of demands the group submitted to the police that day. (Kelly Bennett/CBC)

Organizers of an anti-racism march on Dec. 1, 2014 met with Hamilton Police and heard confirmation the service collects information from people officers stop on the street. Here, Kayonne Christy, read a list of demands the group submitted to the police that day. (Kelly Bennett/CBC)

Winner, 2015 RTDNA Adrienne Clarkson diversity award for Canada's central region.

Hamilton Police carded the same aboriginal man 14 times in 1 year (Nov. 18, 2015)

'Unjustifiable': Human Rights Commission slams Hamilton police on carding (Oct. 29, 2015)

Packed Hamilton forum demands end to police carding (Sept. 15, 2015)

Hamilton Police carding form is 'almost a carbon copy' of Toronto's (Aug. 31, 2015)

Do Hamilton Police actually card black people disproportionately? (Aug. 1, 2015)

Hamilton police collecting information on people not accused of crimes (Feb. 26, 2015)

HOUSING and HOMELESSNESS

'Overcrowded' house near McMaster has 12 bedrooms (Mar. 24, 2017)

Will Hamiltonians be left behind in the city's housing boom? (Jan. 23, 2015) 

San Diego's Share of Homelessness Funding Doesn't Add Up (March 4, 2013)

Emails from a Newly Homeless Woman: ‘I Still Want to Be a Part of Regular Society’ (Feb. 1, 2013)

Armed with Antiquated Maps, Group Allegedly Sold Bogus Foreclosure Fix (May 23, 2008)
(Winner, 2009 Excellence in Journalism Awards, San Diego Society of Professional Journalists)

Ground Zero in San Diego's Mortgage Mess (Aug. 20, 2007) 

PSYCHIATRIC INPATIENT SUICIDES

St. Joe's investigating 'extremely unusual' number of suicides at West 5th campus (Dec. 27, 2016)

Families and friends of 3 who died in psych hospital seek answers (Jan. 11, 2017)

Can all suicides be prevented in an inpatient facility like St. Joe's? (Feb. 14, 2017)

Ontario NDP calls for coroner's inquest into St. Joe's suicide deaths (Sept. 22, 2017)

Photo by Sam Hodgson

Photo by Sam Hodgson

INVESTIGATIVE PROJECTS

A STAGGERING SWINDLE | With my colleague Will Carless, I investigated a mortgage fraud scheme in which a man named Jim McConville bought condos in other people's identities, stealing $13 million from banks in the process. Federal prosecutors indicted McConville and others a year after our stories exposed the swindle. He pleaded guilty to orchestrating the fraud and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Part 1 | Rented Identities, Extravagant Prices and Foreclosure: A Post-Boom Real Estate Scam (April 11, 2009)

Part 2 | How It Could Happen in 2008 (April 11, 2009) 

Mortgage Fraud Mastermind Pleads Guilty (Jan. 25, 2012)

Awards:
Second place, Best Investigative Report or Series, National Association of Real Estate Editors, 2010; 
Finalist, Investigative Journalism, Small Site: Online News Association 2009 awards; 
Finalist, Livingston Awards for Young Journalists
 

OUT OF REACH | With my colleague Dagny Salas, I investigated gaps in programs meant to serve the needy. 

Part 1 | San Diego's Safety Net Is Riddled with Gaps (Jan. 31, 2010)

Part 2 | San Diego's County Government Resents Bearing Safety Net's Burden (Feb. 1, 2010)

Award: Finalist, Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism, Small Site: Online News Association 2010 awards.