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 "offense" ...
-
Cuts Put Strain on Park Police
The number of full-time police officers at New York State Parks has decreased the past five years, along with increases in more "serious" offenses. Several areas have minimal or no police coverage, and some officers are working extended shifts as a result.
Tags: cops; beach patrol; park and recreation; overtime; Long Island; Bethpage; Caumsett; Hempstead; Belmont Lake;
-
Law and Disorder
This series revealed how criminals free on probation or parole in South Carolina kill, rob and rape all too often in a state where repeat offenders routinely are released into a system that is too under-manned and ill-equipped to maintain control.
Tags: probation agents; parole agents; criminals; repeat offenders; overcrowded prisons; probation violators; rehabilitation; prison inmates; jail; justice system; suspects; offenses; supervised release
-
Houston Texas Bus Safety
This story looks at two bus crashes in Texas to determine how companies are regulated. It also looks at how Houston operators who cater to Hispanic, working-class passengers are allowed to operate, some illegally, despite poor safety records and questionable licensing.
Tags: buses; public safety; driving records; racial discrimination; bus crashes; chameleon carrier; driving offenses;
-
A Dangerous Lesson
Schools in Harris County were found to be hiding reports of campus crime from the state agency, in addition to watering down the seriousness of offenses ranging from assault charges to weapon and drug possession. One school didn't have any reports on paper of fighting or drug possession for an entire year.
Tags: school shooting; student code of conduct; sexual assault; misreporting; No Child Left Behind;
-
California's Criminal Nurses
Dozens of registered nurses and other licensed health care professionals convicted of serious crimes - including sex offenses and attempted murder - remained fully licensed to practice for years in California before regulators acted against them. Some registered nurses racked up five, 10, even 14 convictions before the state moved to discipline them.
Tags: nurses; health care; criminal records; licensed nurses; hospitals; corruption
-
Too Tough? Tactics in Suburban Policing
Some police departments in the Philadelphia area have been recording some of the highest arrest rates in American for minor offenses. These towns are mostly white, and the high number of arrests are made up overwhelmingly of African Americans. Legal experts say some of the arrests are unconstitutional. Furthermore, the towns with the highest arrest rates have actually seen crime go up, not down.
Tags: police; arrest; demographic; racial profiling; public records
-
Denver's bad boys, a probe of police discipline
The series reveals a "police discipline system that even top safety officials at the city described as broken. Operating under a comparative discipline rule that forced city officials to peg current punishment to discipline decisions meted out years ago, the city had allowed police officers with serious and repeated offenses to remain on the force."
-
Desert Dealer
If the State Land Dept. had run a background check on land developer Jim Rhodes, it would have found that he had admitted illegally using funds to aid politicains, along with his connections to corrupt Nevada officials. He purchased 1,000 acres of state trust land and the right to master plan an additional 6,700 acres. Rhodes has been successfully sued for fraud, self dealing and theft, among other offenses.
Tags: Construction; housing; homes; Clark County; Erin Kenny; Dario Herrera
-
Juvenile Sex Offenders: Marjor Crimes, Minor Criminal
"A report by Anna Song of KATU-Portland, Ore. reveals that juvenile sex offenders often go right back to school after being charged. Due to their status as minors, school administrators cannot disseminate this information beyond the staff. The story exposes the inconsistency of local school policies when it comes to such offenders: Some schools tell all staff members, some tell just a few. Ultimately, it's up to the principal and can vary by school, not just by district."
Tags: sex offenders; juvenile; school system; privacy; crime; sexual offense
-
A Defective System
In the Kansas City Municipal Court, drivers who had committed offenses including "DUI, fleeing police, racing on city streets and speeding" were allowed to plea-bargain their offenses down to the much more minor "defective-equipment" violation. In some cases, drivers were obtaining up to five of these plea bargain deals in a year. The more serious offenses never showed up on drivers' records, and while these individuals avoided the hike in insurance rates that would have come with their violations, insurance company spokesmen informed the K.C. Star that everyone's rates were thus "being increased slightly to cover this uninsured risk created by the plea bargains."
Tags: DUI; moving violations; plea bargains; Kansas City Municipal Court; "defective-equipment" citation"; insurance rates; insurance rate hikes