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 "traffic laws" ...
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I-Team: Highway Robbery
WCPO's investigative unit exposed widespread theft of traffic fines by court clerks in a local community notorious as a speed trap -- Arlington Heights, Ohio. Bigger than the thefts by a pair of court clerks was the government cover up that persisted for at least a decade. We obtained documents showing two successive police chiefs had warned the mayor and fiscal officer of Arlington Heights that a substantial amount of cash was missing as far back as 2002. Rather than heeding those warnings, the elected leaders of Arlington Heights marginalized both police chiefs, who eventually resigned. Our ongoing investigation has directly resulted in: · Multiple felony indictments against two government employees for theft in office. · Passage and subsequent repeal of an illegal ban on television cameras in public council meetings. · The complete and permanent shut-down of the speed trap on I-75 through Arlington Heights, Ohio. · A call from the county prosecutor for the village to be dissolved and annexed into a neighboring city. · Committee passage of Ohio House Bill 523, eliminating mayors' courts in communities with fewer than 1,000 residents. · The adoption of a new public records policy for the Village of Arlington Heights, conforming with Ohio public records and open meetings laws. Chief Investigative Reporter Brendan Keefe successfully fought against a wall of resistance to obtain public documents and gain access to illegally-closed council meetings.
Tags: Theft; traffic fines; police chiefs; mayor; fiscal officer;
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Streets of Death
The investigation shows how a lax legal system and budget issues have kept the South Korean government from effectively maintaining its Traffic Safety Law.
Tags: traffic accidents; car accidents; traffic
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Bus-ted
The story reveals a number of things about a school district’s bus system. Some of the things revealed are school buses breaking traffic laws, and extensive records of the bus drivers, including traffic violations and speeding tickets. Once the findings were revealed, the school district wasn’t sure who hired them and the school district allowed them to be bus drivers as long as the insurance companies approved them.
Tags: Cedar Rapids Public School District; school administration; education; transportation; children; kids; Denny Schreckengast; Matt Dunbar
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Are Your Papers in Order
The series reveals how the Sheriff of Maricopa County rounded up illegal aliens for deportation in an effort to remove illegal immigrants. The way this was done was arresting many people without probable cause and simple issues, such as traffic stops. Further, he was stopping darker colored people with alleged infractions and later checking on their residency to determine if they had to be deported or not.
Tags: Arizona; immigration; law enforcement; Hispanic; residents; motorists; citizens; police
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Racial Profiling
The two day series attempted to determine if the practice of targeting citizens based on their race was being used by area law enforcement. Their findings included: Black drivers in Sheveport and nearby Bossier City were cited for traffic violations more than twice as often as white drivers, based on traffic citation data over nearly five years. Although black divers were a minority of each city's licensed drivers, they were disproportionally cited for lower-level violations, such as window tint or loud music. Several officers from each city police department routinely issued more tickets to black drivers and issued more tickets for lower-level violations that for serious infractions, such as speeding or running a red light.
Tags: racial profiling; driving violations; law enforcement; low-level citations; black drivers; citation records; FOIA; police behavior
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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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Speed Unlimited
In fiscal year 2005-06, only 2.4 percent of people with serious speeding tickets (going more than 55 mph and more than 15 miles over the limit) were convicted as charged. This series reveals loopholes in state law that encourage prosecutors and judges to let speeders get away with their crimes. This sort of leniency is dangerous, as many people each year die from speed-related collisions.
Tags: speeding; traffic accidents; highway; transportation; state government; police
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Escaping Justice
This story found that failures in Tennessee's justice system allowed more than 150 prison escapees to roam free, and even break the law again. More than one-third of the escapees had no warrants identifying them as fugitives. Many were stopped by police, given traffic tickets and even arrested without ever being returned to Tennessee prisons. State corrections officials and local sheriffs disagreed over whose responsibility it is to track down escaped inmates.
Tags: prison; inmates; jail; law enforcement; FOIA; state government
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Stopwatch
The Fredrick News Post determined if disparity existed in discretionary traffic stops by using law enforcemnet's own records. It found that blacks were more likely to be searched when stopped than white motorists.
Tags: warrant; search; seizure; drugs; race; racism; minority; discrimination;
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I-95 Speed zones are not most dangerous
This investigation found that speed zones in Brevard County, FL, were established not necessarily because of high rates of speed-related accidents, but merely in areas where people who supported the law lived. Some of the zones are actually in places with very low rates of speeding-related crashes.
Tags: traffic; transportation; highways; department of highway safety; microsoft access