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 "service members" ...
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Uncounted Casualties
A three-day series that analyzed causes of death for 266 Texas veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. The six-month investigation uncovered previously unknown information, pulling data from a variety of federal, state and local sources. The series, which also depended on extensive interviews with family members and fellow service members, revealed the startling number of Texas veterans dying of prescription drug overdoses, suicides and motor vehicle crashes. The newspaper's analysis was hailed by epidemiologists and former Department of Veterans Affairs researchers as an important step in understanding veteran mortality, and led to calls for better government tracking of how veterans are dying.
Tags: Veterans; Iraq; Afghanistan; prescription drug overdoses; suicides; vehicle crashes
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Broken Shield
Decades ago, California created a special police force to patrol exclusively at its five state developmental centers – taxpayer-funded institutions where patients with severe autism and cerebral palsy have been beaten, tortured and raped by staff members. But California Watch found that this state force, the Office of Protective Services, does an abysmal job bringing perpetrators to justice. Reporter Ryan Gabrielson, a Pulitzer Prize winner, exposed the depths of the abuse inside these developmental centers while showing how sworn officers and detectives wait too long to start investigations, fail to collect evidence and ignore key witnesses – leading to an alarming inability to solve crimes inflicted upon some of society’s most vulnerable citizens. Dozens of women were sexually assaulted inside state centers, but police investigators didn’t order “rape kits” to collect evidence, a standard law enforcement tool. Police waited so long to investigate one sexual assault that the staff janitor accused of rape fled the country, leaving behind a pregnant patient incapable of caring for a child. The police force’s inaction also allowed abusive caregivers to continue molesting patients – even after the department had evidence that could have stopped future assaults. Many of the victims chronicled by California Watch are so disabled they cannot utter a word. Gabrielson gave them a resounding voice. Our Broken Shield series prompted far-reaching change, including a criminal investigation, staff retraining and new laws – all intended to bring greater safeguards and accountability.
Tags: California; police; autism; cerebral palsy; abuse; children
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WESD's Web of Deals
An investigation of the Willamette education agency found cozy relationships among board members, administrations, contractors, and the state department officials.
Tags: service agency; board members; corruption; oversight; mismanagement
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Profiting from Fallen Soldiers
Bloomberg finds that more than 130 life insurance companies have been profiting from the death benefits owed to family service members and government workers.
Tags: soldiers; death benefits; life insurance; Prudential; Met Life
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Who Killed Doc?
KSTP found that "commanders ignored warnings, botched investigations, and failed to protect service members on their own base - where they should have been the safest. As a result, the Armed Forces Medical Examiner says it has changed the way the remains of service members killed worldwide are tracked, to ensure that families of the fallen are notified of changes to their love one's autopsy or cause of death."
Tags: military; military deaths; service members; death examination; military bases
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Profiting From Fallen Soldiers
In this series, reporter David Evans exposed how "more than 130 life insurance companies" devised a system that allowed them to profit from death benefits that were "owed to families of service members, government workers and millions of other Americans." MetLife and Prudential led the scheme. Evans revealed that the companies withheld $28 billion owed to the families of deceased soldiers. The story prompted "almost immediate changes in U.S. government policies."
Tags: life insurance; MetLife; Prudential; Robert Gates; Veterans; taxpayer; American Legion; military
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Self Dealing and Double Dipping in the California National Guard
When the U.S. government decided to boost incentives for National Guard service and combat veterans, no one envisioned a system in which a single bureaucrat could approve tens of millions of payments to officers and others who probably weren't eligible. Yet these and other apparent abuses occurred in California's National Guard even after flags were raised, and they gained top-level attention only after Sacramento Bee reporter Charles Piller revealed them. As Piller reported, up to $100 million in potentially illegal or improper incentive payments were made to service members, including Guard captains and majors who knew they were ineligible for disbursements.
Tags: Military; National Guard; California; Incentive; Payments; Benefits; Student Loans; Combat Veterans; War Profiteering; Finances; Salary
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Children In Crisis
“Kentucky leads the nation in its rate of children who die from neglect or abuse”. Many people missed the warning signs of abuse and these include social workers, family members, health professionals, and day care workers. Another factor into the problem was budget cuts, which wear down a system meant to protect children.
Tags: kids; child welfare; authorities; maltreatment; violence; Health and Family Services; Child Protective Services; programs
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Mental Disorder: The Failure of Reform
Until the News and Observer published "Mental Disorder," most North Carolinians had no idea that their state mental health system was a disaster. The five-part series examined each major failure of an 8-year reform effort. Major findings included that the sate had wasted at least $400 million on services that were ineffective or unneeded and various cases of money mismanagement. They also found that at least 82 patients in state mental health hospitals and homes for the developmentally disabled had died of homicide, suicide, accidents or medical errors. In dozens of cases, hospital officials had covered up the true circumstances of the deaths by falsifying records and telling family members the patients had died of natural causes.
Tags: mental health; developmentally disabled citizens; North Carolina; mental health reform; mental health hospitals; patient rights; patient abuse; patient neglect
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(Dis)Service, Fallen and Forgotten
Families of immigrant service members who were killed were never told that they were eligible for immigration benefits among certain immediate family. The Department of Defense nor U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services were informing the relatives of the benefits.
Tags: survivors; posthumous citizenship; casualty; green card; civil rights;