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 "Prince George County" ...
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More Than 1,500 Homocides Grow Cold in Prince George's County
Prince George's County, Maryland has one of the nation's highest murder rates, and though the police department's clearance rates have improved in recent years, decades of solving less than half of the county's homocides has left thousands of family members still looking for justice for their slain loved ones.
Tags: Homocides; Prince George County; Murder Rate
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Sweetheart Deals
This investigation looked at "county-owned land deals in Prince George's County. They found that most of the deals - worth millions of dollars - went to people with close ties to County Executive Jack B. Johnson, including a business partner, golfing buddy, a former business partner and campaign contributors. Many of the deals were not put out to bid."
Tags: housing market; real estate; corruption; preferential treatment; favoritism; graft; sweetheart deals
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Prince George's County Coverage
In Maryland's Prince George's County, county Executive Jack B. Johnson "awarded 51 county contracts totaling nearly $3.3 million to 15 of his friends and political supporters, some of whom had no expertise in the field." The Washington Post investigates Johnson's dealings, further finding that he and other officials from the same county "used county-issued credit cards to pay for personal expenses totaling thousands of dollars," including plane tickets, clothing, video rentals and prescription drugs. These charges were seldom repaid in the county's mandated deadline of 10 business days.
Tags: Prince George's County; Jack B. Johnson; personal credit-card usage
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Anti-Terror Funds Buy Wide Array of Pet Projects
The Washington Post traced the path of the region's first wave of homeland security aid from its distribution through its final use, a trail that has been largely unexamined by federal regulators. The reporters found that much of the $324 million directed to the Washington region after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks remained unspent or was funding projects with questionable connections to homeland security. The analysis included a review of contracts, grant proposals, and purchasing databases. Results showed millions were spent on items such as leather jackets for police officers.
Tags: anti-terrorism; anti-terrorism funds; terrorism; homeland security; Prince George's County prosecutors; Congress; The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments; World Trade Center; Pentagon; Department of Homeland Security; Bethesda-Chevy Chase Fire Squad; Tom Ridge; District of Columbia Hospital Association; Psychiatric Institute of Washington; Kroll Government Services; bioterrorism; Prince William County; D.C. Department of Mental Health; D.C. Emergency Management Agency; anthrax; Montgomery County; Fairfax County; Federal Communications Commission
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Black and Blue: Why does America's richest black suburb have some of the country's most brutal cops?
According to the article;"The cops in Maryland's second most populous county (Prince George's County) had a reputation for turning routine traffic stops into Rodney King incidents sans video camera." Article explains why the suburb has become known for its brutal cops.
Tags: police
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A Blue Wall of Silence. False Confessions
The Washington Post exposes police misconduct in Prince George's County in two related series. "False confessions" reveals that the county's homicide detectives have used "such coercive interrogation tactics that innocent people have confessed to murder." Depriving the suspects from sleep, interrogating them for days and not allowing them to talk to lawyers are the most common tactics. "Blue Wall of Silence" reports on a decade-long pattern of police shootings. The stories reveal that, since 1990 the county police officers have shot 122 people, killing 47 of them. "They killed more people than any other major city or county police force from 1990 to 2000," the Post reports. Many of the victims were unarmed and innocent. The investigation finds that police officers have rarely - if ever - been disciplined, and that some of their crimes did not emerge until the victims or their families sued.
Tags: law enforcement; public records; lawyers; FOIA requests; databases; CAR; crime; murder; arrests
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Jobs that go bump
Governing exposes chaos and inefficiency in the work of government agencies, resulting from bumping - "the process whereby a more senior public employee whose position is cut can use his tenure to claim another job held by a less senior person." The story reveals that often after several senior positions have been cut, dozens and even hundreds of workers might have to change places, ending up "in a similar job, a job they haven't done for years, or a job they have never done in their lives." The reporter looks at better working alternatives to bumping, which have been used by some local governments throughout the country.
Tags: Massachusetts Employment and Training Division; personnel; politics; unions; public employees; collective bargaining; Prince George's County
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Over and Back
One of former President Clinton's pardon's on his last day of office went to Derrick Curry, an aspiring pro basketball player from Kansas was convicted of conspiracy to distribute crack in the late 1980s. Curry was playing Division II basketball at Prince George Community College hoping to make the transition to the NBA or the ABA when he got caught up in an investigation of a county-wide drug ring. ESPN the Magazine's Chad Millman looks at how Curry endured the prime years of his basketball career in prison and how he's now trying to teach younger players the lessons he learned early on in life.
Tags: Basketball; crime