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 "Maricopa County" ...
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Grim Reapers
Maricopa County, Arizona, has faced economic hurdles in paying for representation of indigent defendants charged with capital crimes. In recent years, the county supplanted other jurisdictions as the unofficial “death penalty capital” of the United States. “Grim Reaper” describes how a prominent capital criminal-defense attorney committed serious ethical and potentially criminal violations over a period of five years, during which time he collected more than $2.4 million from the county, including payment for work that he never had performed. in the wake of publication, law enforcement initiated a still-ongoing criminal investigation (as did the State Bar of Arizona), and the county's presiding judge announced sweeping and immediate changes in how criminal-defense attorneys representing indigent clients would be vetted, selected and paid.
Tags: Crimes; charges; criminal justice system; capital crimes
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MCSO Sex Crimes Unit Investigation
We uncovered that Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Sex Crimes Unit detectives failed to investigate hundreds of sex crimes cases. Not only were hundreds not investigated, but many were cleared in a way so they would be reported along with arrest numbers giving the public the appearance the cases were solved.
Tags: sex crimes; detectives
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"Greed v. Guardianship"
This investigation reveals serious flaws in the Maricopa County Probate Court. Families have complained of being "violated" by their court appointed guardian, which was most often the Sun Valley Group. Families accused SVG of taking control of their finances, selling anything of value and keeping the money. Some were even kept from visiting sick loved ones who had been placed in care facilities.
Tags: Sun Valley Group; probate court; Maricopa County; Arizona Supreme Court; public records; court documents; guardianship
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"Arpaio Investigation"
An investigation by KPHO-TV found that Sheriff Joe Arpaio often used his popularity as a means to "retaliate" when claims were made against him. The retaliation was often in the form of "SWAT raids" or "full-blown criminal investigations." Some of his victims included the mayor of Phoenix, Supreme Court judges and local police chiefs. KPHO found the FBI was also investigating the sheriff for "abuse of power."
Tags: Joe Arpaio; Mesa Police Chief; Mesa City Hall; Sheriff Arpaio; Department of Justice; Maricopa County
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Are Your Papers in Order
The series reveals how the Sheriff of Maricopa County rounded up illegal aliens for deportation in an effort to remove illegal immigrants. The way this was done was arresting many people without probable cause and simple issues, such as traffic stops. Further, he was stopping darker colored people with alleged infractions and later checking on their residency to determine if they had to be deported or not.
Tags: Arizona; immigration; law enforcement; Hispanic; residents; motorists; citizens; police
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The Ventriolquist's Dummies
Sheriff Joe Arpaio's employees, along with several out-of-state companies, contributed to a secret fund that was eventually passed on to the Arizona Republican Party. The money was then used to launch vicious attack ads against Arpaio's opponent during election season. Many of the exposed sources of funding were in violation of Arizona state law.
Tags: Joe Arpaio; Arizona Republican Party; Maricopa County Sheriff Office; David Hendershott; Joel Fox
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Reasonable Doubt
Maricopa County Sheriff's Office was found to violate federal civil rights regulations when deputies began focusing on immigration enforcement. The arrest rate plummeted and response time on life-threatening emergency calls slowed dramatically as spending soared to help crack down on illegal immigrants.
Tags: customs; Joe Arpaio; criminal investigation; Phoenix police; human smuggling
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Head on a Skewer
This story described the behind-the-scenes machinations by powerful law enforcement authorities in Maricopa County, Ariz. to secure a criminal indictment against a reporter (and a newspaper) for allegedly violating an arcane law. Mining newly released documents and other sources, the writer uncovered previously unknown information about this unprecedented and novel attack on the First Amendment.
Tags: First Amendment rights; Arizona; Joe Arpaio; , Phoenix New Times; first amendment law
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Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Jails series
The series examined individuals who have died suspiciously while in the custody of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who proclaims himself to be "America's Toughest Sheriff." Specifically, the stories examined the death of an inmate, Juan Mendoza Farias, who entered the county jail in good health and arrived at the county morgue two days later--covered with bruises and lacerations. The series also covered ongoing federal class-action lawsuit brought by the ACLU against Arpaio. During the process of that lawsuit, Arpaio lost his federal jail accreditation, which is require by Arizona law. Dickerson has been covering the lawsuit since 2007 and broke the story that the county's top lawman was himself breaking a state law by losing the accreditation of his jails. The series also investigated the care of pregnant inmates and their babies in the jail, finding that many women are malnourished and miscarry as a result of the jail conditions and food.
Tags: police misconduct; sheriff's office; pregnant inmates; prisoner abuse; Arizona