Brooks Jarosz
Call me a watchdog, detective, or just a nosy neighbor. I can’t stand cheaters, schemers, and those who take advantage of others.
If you value hard work, respect and kindness, we’ll get along just fine. Maybe it’s my Midwestern roots that motivate me, or my passion to spark change, expose problems, and get people talking.
I grew up near Toledo, Ohio, where most of my family still lives, but have lived in the Bay Area for a few years. Admittedly, it took time to understand the politics, culture and lifestyle. Personally, I’ve grown as a person, and as a journalist. It’s exciting to do the job I love, in a place I love exploring.
I’ve found Bay Area people lead interesting and exciting lives. I like to think I do too. If you’ve met me, you know I like to talk and am unafraid to ask questions. Truthfully, I want to make a difference.
The best part of being an investigative reporter is getting to learn something new, nearly every day. I’m constantly seeking the truth, being relentlessly persistent, and reporting the facts. I call it real journalism.
My friends would tell you I’m very competitive. I’ve earned five regional Emmy awards and numerous other Society of Professional Journalists’ awards for investigative, enterprise, and consumer reporting.
Before KTVU FOX 2, I was an investigative journalist at WSYX ABC6/WTTE FOX 28 in Columbus, Ohio. Proud is how I’d describe the investigative work that has brought about sweeping changes and helped change laws, or improve lives.
Prior to 2013, I was a jack-of-all-trades reporting, shooting video, producing, editing and anchoring at WSAZ NewsChannel 3 in Charleston, West Virginia.
I’m a proud honors graduate from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, where I first got my start at WOUB-TV in Athens, Ohio.
In 2008, I earned a prestigious fellowship with the Brian Ross Investigative Unit at ABC News, which inspired me to become an investigative journalist.
I can trace back my interest in television news, productions and journalism to my high school, St. John’s Jesuit. That’s also where I was introduced to the sport of rowing. So if I’m not at work, I’m usually on or near the water, out and about with my little dog, Rufus, or sipping on a glass of California wine, and enjoying the fantastic food and arts scenes.
If you have suggestions on where to eat, what to do, or more importantly an investigative tip for 2 Investigates, drop me a line at Brooks.Jarosz@FOXTV.com.
The latest from Brooks Jarosz
California EDD money keeps getting mailed to New York address
Unemployment letters, checks and debit cards from California's Employment Development Department have arrived in a New Yorker's mailbox, pointing to potential fraud at the EDD.
EDD investigating fraud linked to pandemic unemployment money
California has distributed $77 billion in unemployment benefits and 12 million claims have been filed since March, which is more than any other state, indicating potential identity theft and fraud surrounding the state's Employment Development Dept.
California inmates battling wildfires despite COVID-19, early releases
Inmate firefighters feel they've been forgotten by the California Department of Corrections and forced to keep battling wildfires as prisoners convicted of similar or more serious crimes are let out of prison early amid the coronavirus pandemic.
With empty offices, big tech called to help bridge digital divide in San Francisco
Dev/Mission, a San Francisco-based nonprofit is helping get computers to families in need amid a pandemic to help bridge the digital divide by asking for tech companies from Silicon Valley to step up.
Advocates fear resurgence of COVID-19 at crowded San Quentin prison
The coronavirus has infected more than 2,200 prisoners and 270 staff members at San Quentin State Prison. So far, 25 inmates and one corrections officer have died from the virus.
San Rafael has highest number of COVID-19 cases in Marin County
Three quarters of all confirmed cases of COVID-19 are among the Latino and Hispanic community in Marin County.
Oakland police plans to hire more dispatchers, seek 911 center funding
The planned changes follow a grand jury's findings that police dispatchers are overworked and the center is short-staffed and underfunded. KTVU highlighted these issues in a special report this week.
Prison officials turned down free COVID-19 testing for San Quentin
On two different occasions offers by a group of scientists at UC Berkeley for free rapid COVID-19 testing at San Quentin were denied by California prison officials.
Oakland police chief: no excuse for thousands of 911 delays
The Oakland Police Department failed to properly handle the 200,000 emergency calls it received in 2019, leaving thousands on hold. Interim Police Chief Susan Manheimer admitted the department fell short.
Oakland 911 failed 18,000 emergency callers last year
Every year, thousands of emergency calls in Oakland go unanswered for far longer than a state standard allows, leaving potential victims of violent crimes on hold. A recent grand jury investigation found negligent oversight explaining the city can’t competently handle the 200,000 emergency calls it gets every year.