A WLRN investigation identified serious disciplinary issues and lax oversight by the West Palm Beach Police Department well before officers in an elite police unit called "GHOST" were indicted for allegedly covering up a chase that killed a pregnant woman and her mother in July 2024. The investigation comes as the department's new chief seeks to re-establish a street crimes unit, since GHOST was disbanded.

Today, the Miami Herald and WLRN publish a memorial list of the 196 people struck and killed by Brightline trains in Florida since 2017 — to honor their lives, raise awareness about the deadly Brightline corridor and spark conversations about how public safety can be improved.

Florida’s new rules for rail crossings take effect Jan. 1, aimed at reducing the number of drivers and pedestrians killed by trains. But they won’t lead to wholesale change along the deadly Brightline corridor, where 195 people have been killed — the rules are for new projects. Here is a look at the safety solutions experts say could be most effective.

Since Brightline launched in 2018, its trains have hit 174 vehicles, killing 25 people and injuring 63 more, an investigation by WLRN and the Miami Herald found. Another 104 people survived without injuries, some by fleeing their cars before impact. “Wounds on your body disappear slowly over time,” one survivor said. “But wounds on the inside? Those you keep.”

The private company that promised to be “financially viable on its own” is losing money — and using government subsidies to grow its business. Read the latest installment in the WLRN / Miami Herald series Killer Train.

Brightline train crews confront violent deaths on a regular basis. Their experiences, their suffering, are part of the long debris trail of the nation’s deadliest major passenger rail system. “What’s your body count?” someone asked the conductor on Instagram. “16,” he responded, like he was providing his shirt size.

Commissioner Joel Flores told WLRN the $3.3 million contract with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office was in response to safety concerns by other commissioners. It comes after recent reports that a commissioner — soon to be county mayor — used deputies as her personal security detail, including for visits to the president’s Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago.

Episode 4 of the WLRN News and Miami Herald podcast 'Killer Train' explores the long history of safety issues on train tracks in South Florida.

Prosecutors accused a South Florida doctor and pharmacists of selling millions of pills illegally for years. WLRN tried to figure out why the state’s pill mill laws did not flag issues sooner.

Brightline trains have killed more than 180 people, an investigation by WLRN and the Miami Herald has found. In the third episode of the Killer Train podcast, hear the stories of three people who lost their lives on the tracks, in the words of the loved ones they left behind.