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 "citizen complaints" ...
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Police Complaints Rising
Brutality complaints were on the rise at three area law enforcement departments; they had increased by 25 percent in the last five years. Complaints about other officer misconduct, such as rudeness or harassment, also were on the rise. Few citizen complaints were validated by the departments, which investigated the complaints themselves. The majority of complaints were deemed unsubstantiated and in many cases they were classified as false, which subjected the complainant to possible criminal prosecution.
Tags: civil liberties; law enforcement; police brutality; search and seizure; excessive force; civil rights activists
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Danger Below
This investigation began with citizen complaints about New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation. Many of the complaints concern old toxic waste disposal sites; the agency does not make sure the contaminated groundwater and soil are completely cleaned, nor does the agency communicate with people affected by the sites. The DEC's shortcomings may have stemmed, in part, from its diminished resources and power under the administration of governor George Pataki.
Tags: environment; toxic waste; FOI; EPA; state government; pollution
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Cleveland Police Always Justify Using Force
"Cleveland Police Supervisors reviewed 4,427 incidents in which police used non-deadly force in the last four years and determined the officers were justified in every case." Experts told the Plain Dealer that a 100 percent rate of justified force happens when officials "rubber stamp, rather than investigate them." The Plain Dealer's three stories include a profile of Martin Rudin, whose statistics indicate he ranks high both in using force and in citizen complaints. Also, the package includes diagrams showing where the most incidents occurred, as well as the officers who used force the most, according to the police database.
Tags: Martin Rudin; police; use of force; justifiable force; police review; citizen complaints
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Outsourcing Justice? That's Obscene
"The Bush administration has contracted with a Christian right organization, Morality in Media, to receive citizens' complaints about online obscenity. Since the early 1960s, Morality in Media has opposed pornography of all types, including constitutionally protected material. The Justice Department, duty-bound to uphold the Constitution, is thus allying itself with an organization that holds much of today's First Amendment law in contempt."
Tags: justice; freedom of speech; obscenity; religion; separation of church and state; internet
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"Dr. Buzzard"
Gary Karpin billed himself to citizens of Arizona as a "divorce mediator" and former prosecutor. He was actually a disbarred lawyer from Vermont. Thousands of people flocked to his offices hoping for quick and relatively painless divorces. Over 300 eventually filed complaints against him, and the Maricopa County Attorney's office filed charges against him on 16 counts of theft and fraud.
Tags: Fraud; legal advice; divorce
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Panel lacks bite, critics say
Gross reports that "communities nationwide are demanding greater police accountability and are forming oversight or review boards, which provide an independent, citizen perspective on complaints against police." One of those boards that had been created is the one in Canton, but according to the report this board may not be successful for lack of professional staff to do the work.
Tags: Police; Review Board; Internal Affairs; antidiscrimination agreement; Justice Department
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With Guns Drawn: A Question of Justice
The Cincinnati Enquirer exposed the Cincinnati Police Department's failure to track when officers pull weapons from holsters but don't shoot. "Nearly every case where a Cincinnati police officer drew a weapon involved an African American."
Tags: Cincinnati police; weapons; race relations; police discipline; discrimination; guns; citizen complaints
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Swimming in Trouble
The mayor of Pompano Beach, Bill Griffin, maintains cozy relationships with lobbyists and big-time developers. Norman follows the connections through citizen complaints and interviews with the players themselves. The result was a State Attorney's Office investigation into the mayor and a mayor-at-large initiative put to the public.
Tags: conflict of interest; developers; zoning; city government; lobbyists
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A question of justice: A look inside Cincinnati's police division
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports on police shootings and bad behavior by officers. The investigation is based on the analysis of a database of about 5,500 use-of-force records. The series resulted from the coverage of the April 2001 Cincinnati riots for "alleged insensitivity and injustice to blacks," triggered by the shooting of an unarmed African American. The investigative team reveals that, before this case, 14 other blacks have been shot by the city police. An examination of hundreds of citizens' complaints from 1997 to 2000 discovers that police officers have been routinely exonerated of misconduct nine times out of ten. The follow-up stories focus on the "summer of violence," which followed the April riots, and during which 107 police shootings were registered.
Tags: FOI requests; minorities; racial violence; African Americans; blacks; crime; drugs
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Creek Warriors
Columbus Monthly details the story of citizens' groups that are battling to keep their watersheds free and clean from construction run-off. They have taken it upon themselves to check up on construction sites and work with the Environmental Protection Agency to file complaints.
Tags: Enivronmental Protection Agency; Rocky Fort Creek Watershed Protection Task Force; Clean Water Act