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 "license plates" ...
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Driven To Distraction
This seven-month-long investigation revealed serious crashes, injuries and deaths caused by a danger that now exists in virtually every police car in the United States. Dashboard-mounted technology has turned modern patrol cars into offices on wheels. Computers, cameras, GPS devices, radios, smart phones and license plate scanners compete for the officer’s attention while driving, and the consequences of those distractions can be life altering. The series led to significant policy changes at two of the largest police departments in Texas. It sparked action from the world’s largest organization of police leaders. And our reporting also became mandatory safety training viewing for every highway trooper in one state.
Tags: Police; patrol cars; crashes; injuries; deaths; driving safety; highway trooper
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WSJ China's Troubled Transition
During his years in China, British businessman Neil Heywood cut a rather eccentric figure, cruising around Beijing in a silver Jaguar with “007” license plates and boasting implausibly about his connections to senior Communist Party officials. When he was found dead in a second-rate provincial hotel room in November 2011—of “excessive alcohol consumption,” according to local authorities—he was immediately cremated and seemingly just as quickly forgotten. Forgotten, that is, until Wall Street Journal reporter Jeremy Page began digging into the case. Using his wide network of local and foreign contacts, the Beijing correspondent discovered that this was much more than a sad case of expat overindulgence. It turned out that Mr. Heywood was in fact very close to the wife of Bo Xilai, a Communist Party rising star—and that he had told friends he feared she might do him harm. The investigation lifted the lid on the extravagant, and often lawless, private lives of the country's elite—a forbidden topic for Chinese media, and one rarely touched on by the foreign press. Mr. Page’s reports, devoured by China’s vast population of Internet users, sparked massive public debate and may even have altered the course of China’s once-a-decade leadership transition.
Tags: Bo Xilai; China; Communist Party; death
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Backdoor Branches
The investigation turns up "backdoor branches" where unscrupulous dealers are using loopholes within state and federal business laws to purchase license plates and titles for undocumented drivers.
Tags: license plates; bureau of motor vehicles; I.D.; backdoor branches
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"No Reciprocity: Canadian Hit and Run"
In Everett, a vehicle with British Columbia plates struck a young boy and fled the scene, driving across the border back into Canada. Upon realizing the driver was Canadian, U.S. investigators dropped the case and did not ticket the man. An investigation by KIRO-TV finds that it is common for tickets issued to B.C. residents to remain unpaid without consequence because of the lack of a "reciprocity agreement" between Washington and British Columbia.
Tags: British Columbia; Canada; Regional Border Patrol; Everett Mall Way; Everett Police; Keith Leary; Washington Department of Licensing
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The Protected
One million cars owned by California public employees have license plates that shield their information from prying eyes. That secrecy can enable them to run toll booths and red lights and avoid parking citations. They also signal police that the drivers are "one of their own" or related to someone who is, causing many to let these public employees off with a warning.
Tags: license plates; California; law enforcement; traffic violations; cronyism; red light cameras; speeding tickets
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Neal Horsley and the Future of the Armed Abortion Conflict
Esquire Magazine tells the story of Neal Horsley, "the righteous man with the hit list rocks on the front porch of his glass house... his Web site, which is called The Nuremberg Files: Visualize the Abortionists on Trial. On the Web site he collects the names, addresses, and photos of hundreds of doctors across America who perform abortions. Also supplied are pictures of the doctors' houses and cars, license-plate numbers, names and dates of birth of their children, churches and pastors and rabbis, social-activity information and career profiles, as in "Has been butchering babies for sixteen years." Neal smiles broadly and bellows, 'I would not want to be in the business of abortin' babies in the United States of America today!'"
Tags: Domestic terrorism
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No title (id: 13863)
For almost a decade, the city of New Orleans has denied the existence of gangs. WVUE-TV disproves the city's claim by spending several months documenting local members of the Chicago-based Latin Kings gang in New Orleans, forcing the police department and mayor to change their official positions. (Nov. 6-8, 1996)
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No title (id: 13726)
NBC6 reporters tracked stolen cars from South Florida, the nation's car theft capital, to South America. Some cars still had Florida license plates on them.
Tags: Daniels Zamost Rigau CAR End of the road Contest entry 12 pgs. TAPE
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No title (id: 13725)
NBC6 discovers and rescues animals used in a state experiment financed by specialty license plate sales. The animals ended up in the hands of a Texas lion hunter. (May 9, Aug. 4, 13, 1996)
Tags: Daniels Zamost Craven Captured and caged Contest entry Florida Game and Fish Commission 13 pgs. TAPE
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No title (id: 12870)
KSTP-TV investigates how Minnesota drivers without valid licenses continue to drive because of a loophole in the state system that prevents police from linking auto license plates to revoked drivers licenses. (Feb. 7, 1995)
Tags: Leer Roe Jones Hill Dangerous drivers Contest entry DMV Car accidents 20 pgs. TAPE