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 "Las Vegas" ...
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Deadly Force: When Las Vegas Police Shoot, and Kill
In the wake of two controversial officer-involved deaths in the summer of 2010, the Las Vegas Review-Journal asked a simple question: Are Las Vegas police too quick to shoot? What reporters Lawrence Mower, Brian Haynes and Alan Maimon found in a groundbreaking analysis of all police shootings in Clark County since 1990 stunned even veteran police administrators: Local cops had shot at people 378 times, resulting in 142 deaths. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department alone was involved in 311 incidents resulting in 116 deaths. By any measure, Nevada's largest law enforcement agency uses deadly force more often than counterparts in the region and in other major cities surveyed.
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Deadly Force: When Las Vegas Police Shoot and Kill
"In the wake of two controversial officer-involved deaths in the summer of 2010 the Las Vegas Review-Journal asked a simple question: Are Las Vegas police too quick to shoot?"
Tags: law enforcement; multimedia
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"Do No Harm: Hospital Care in Las Vegas"
This two-year investigation delved deep into Nevada's hospital care. Using state records of hospital patients, the reporters were able to "tap meaningful information" and uncover some frightening statistics on the state's level of health care. The Sun analyzed records dating back to 1986 that had never before been made public.
Tags: Nevada; health care; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; CAR; Mountain View Hospital; UNLV; Empowered Patient Coalition
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Las Vegas Construction Deaths
Workers had been dying at a rate of one every six weeks -- 12 deaths in 18 months -- until contractors made sweeping safety improvements after the Las Vegas Sun revealed that poor safety practices and lax oversight by state regulators had contributed to the fatalities. Before the story, construction safety had been a non-issue in Las Vegas. The deaths were considered the cost of doing business in a $32 billion building boom, the biggest in Las Vegas history. High-rise construction is dangerous, authorities said. Contractors and state regulators blamed many of the accidents on the dead workers themselves. This investigation found those arguments were "plainly wrong."
Tags: Occupational Safety and Health Administration; Las Vegas; construction work; worker deaths; property; contractors; Nevada state regulations
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Beneath the Neon
The book follows Matthew O'Brien as he explores Las Vegas' underground flood control system for more than four years. Among his discoveries, O'Brien details access into casinos and airports and describes the people he found living in the tunnels.
Tags: Las Vegas; flood control system; tunnels; homeless; gambling; unsafe conditions; public safety;
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Blowing the Whistle on a Casino Giant
The Review-Journal found that remodeling at one hotel in Las Vegas was registered as cosmetic work, thus exempting it from permits or inspections. However, the work was far from cosmetic and the continued renovations threatened public and employee safety.
Tags: construction; renovations; public safety; cosmetic remodeling; hotels
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They Got the Sheriff
Orange County, Calif Sheriff Mike Carona was praised for values and ethics on a national level. However Moxley found that he had connections with a strip club owner "tied tot he Chicago Mafia," slept with women on duty and "promoted officers based on personal loyalty not competence."
Tags: police; sheriff; Mike Carona; mafia; strip club; Las Vegas; Orange County; Lebanon; anti-terrorism training exercises; police department
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Sealed Records
"Las Vegas judges sealed many civil cases from public view, though neither Nevada law nor court rules outlined procedures" for doing so. Also court clerks sometimes sealed whole files instead of sections, and a "disproportionate number of the sealed cases involved casinos or their" highly placed employees.
Tags: Las Vegas; casinos; civil cases; FOIA
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Desert Dealer
"Las Vegas homebuilder Jim Rhodes became the most influential developer in the East Valley when he bought more than 1,000 acres of state trust land, and the right to master plan an additional 6,700 acres. The State Land Department made no attempt to check his background before selling the land and planning rights, which will set the tone for 275 squares miles of trust land in the area. Had they checked, Land Department officials would have found that Rhodes has admitted illegally using his money to aid powerful politicians, and had close ties to corrupt public officials in Nevada. He also has repeatedly and successfully been sued for fraud, self dealing and theft; and has a long history of complaints for shoddy construction."
Tags: land development; bribes; civil cases; East Valley; construction
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Wal-Mart Investigative Coverage
Wal-Mart was exposed for trying to influence public opinion, mostly the state and local politics. One couple, Jim and Laura, were compensated by Wal-Mart as they took a trip across the nation and visited each store on their way from Georgia to Las Vegas. Wal-Mart gave the couple free gas money and food as they talked to its employees at each store and discovered that all the workers were happy with their work and have a love for Wal-Mart. But there was a speculation that the couple's trip was put together by the people at Wal-Mart's headquarters in Arkansas.
Tags: RV; vacation; Wal-Mart; blog; Writing on the Wall; Jonathan Rees; Sam Walton