The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Florida police" ...
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Sun Sentinel: Speeding Cops
A Miami cop in his marked patrol car set off a public fury in the fall of 2011 when a Florida state trooper clocked him going 120 mph to an off-duty job. Turning to technology and a never-before used tool – highway toll records – the Sun Sentinel produced back-to-back investigations documenting widespread police misconduct and the professional solidarity that allowed it to flourish. In "Above the Law," a three-part series published in February, reporters used police toll records to confirm what many South Florida drivers had witnessed for years: cops were among the worst speeders on the roads, taking advantage of the badge and patrol car to ignore the very laws they enforce. "Short Shifted," a two-part series published in December, used those same toll records to detail how many South Florida cops, paid to serve and protect, were regularly leaving their beats and cities before their shifts ended.
Tags: Police; police speeders
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Protect and Serve
The investigation of a Florida Atlantic University police officer, who was arrested for allegedly shooting escort Sheri Deann Carter in January 2011. Ho had a history of violence and a rap sheet that included many civilian complaints and battery charges from his wife.
Tags: Police; Florida Atlantic University, Rape, Escort, Sheri Dean Carter
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Unfit For Duty
A nine-part series on how state and local officials handle police misconduct in the state of Florida. The newspaper analyzed more than 22,000 misconduct cases, uncovering that severely troubled officers are frequently still in duty.
Tags: law; enforcement; misconduct; police; Florida
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Unfit for Duty
The newspaper's analysis of more than 22,000 cases of police misconduct in Florida showed a system flawed at every level, one where politics had trumped the safety of Florida's citizens.
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Victims of Silence
The story reviews dating violence in Florida, as well as the beating of Rihanna by boyfriend Chris Brown. This revealed a number of issues, including “lack of prevention programs, the impact this news had, and that dating violence is under the domestic violence law only to ask for injunction and protection orders”. Further, dating violence isn’t considered a crime and many times is underreported after a physical attack.
Tags: abuse; relationships; physical; police reports; law enforcement; beating; Council and National Crime Forum; emotional violence; sexual violence; law
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Cuban Pot Rings
“Cuban-run drug rings dominate Florida’s indoor marijuana-cultivation trade, which supplies the Eastern seaboard state with some of the most potent and expensive marijuana in the US. Court records and interviews with drug agents showed that up to 90 percent of the hundreds of suspects busted each year running illegal grow houses are recently arrived Cuban refugees”.
Tags: cops; police; law enforcement; crime; arrests; drugs; court; Central Florida
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Botched Sting
This story exposed how local Florida police cost a young woman her life by manipulating her into working an undercover sting, then botching the operation. Rachel Hoffman was a typical American college student who was also twice arrested for possession of small amounts of marijuana. Scared and facing jail time, Rachel agreed to be a police informant. Police told here that no charges would be filed, that prosecutors would never know and that they would protect her. Only after her death, and following this investigation, did the police admit that their recruitment of Rachel Hoffman violated their own policies.
Tags: undercover police work; recuritment; police informant; drugs; drug dealers; wrongful death
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The Wrong Suspect
Kevin Wehner was announced as the prime suspect for the deaths of four Miami-Dade cops after Shawn LaBeet, a violent felon, had stolen his identity four years before. CBS4's investigation revealed that "a combination of both poor police work and lack of communication among local, state and federal agencies allowed Shawn LaBeet to remain free.
Tags: police; identity theft; local agency; state; federal; communication; assault weapons; drivers license; Florida; DMV; Department of Motor Vehicles;
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Department thrifty despite salary growth
"The impetus for the project was Florida's budget crisis. Governments are cutting services like libraries and street sweeping to help balance the state's budget. But between 2001 and 2006, governments were overloaded with money, and we wanted to see what they spent it on. Sheriff's Offices seemed like a logical case study. Some offices were judicious in their spending; others, such as the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, bought souped-up SUVs for high ranking officers."
Tags: police; government spending; budget; salary; perks; sheriff; Florida
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Cash Cows
This series examines some examples of misuse of a 1959 Florida law called the "greenbelt" law, which was designed to help farmers stay in business. Now it is exploited by developers who use it as a tax break and deprive local governments of taxes that could be used for schools, police departments and other public services.
Tags: real estate; development; farm preservation programs; tax loopholes