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 "volunteer" ...
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20/20 Peace Corps: A Trust Betrayed
An ABC News 10-month investigation into the murder of a young Peace Corps volunteer that led to the discovery of severe flaws in the way abuse is reported within the Peace Corps. ABC's report led to President Obama signing a law that is aimed at protecting the volunteers better.
Tags: Peace Corps; murder; abuse; broadcast
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Could Sandy Hill Have Been Saved?
This series looked at why fire-and-rescue workers were unable to save a woman trapped inside her home even though she was on the phone with a dispatcher giving directions to her upstairs bedroom. The reporting found that volunteers who responded that night did not use thermal imaging equipment that could have helped them find the victim, Sandy Hill; that they did not place a ladder at either of the windows in her bedroom; that they were slow to ventilate the house and remove the smoke that killed her; and that they did not question people who had escaped the house about her location. Additional reporting exposed systemic weaknesses in Spotsylvania's fire-and-rescue services, which rely on self-governing volunteer departments and a smaller number of career personnel hired and directed by the county. These weaknesses include a poorly structured chain of command, lack of communication, insufficient training for man volunteers, and a failure to enforce existing regulations due in large part to friction between the career and volunteer units.
Tags: Firefighters; Fire Department; asphyxiation; volunteer; equipment; protocol; Spotsylvania; fire-and-rescue; training; regulation
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Who's Watching the Cops?
This article looks into the usefulness of civilian oversight of the police and allegations against them due to excessive force are handled by two towns in the area of coverage. Additionally, everyone agrees public oversight of the police is necessary, but not sure if it the most effective. Further, the public oversight group only has so much power and is often left without taking corrective action.
Tags: law enforcement; civilian; Durham; Chapel Hill; Police Review Board; volunteers; police department
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A Chief Under Fire
The story looks at "corruption and malfeasance at the federally-funded, volunteer fire department, the Boone County Fire Protection District." Specifically, the author reveals a misuse of "federal grant money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and public, taxpayer money for the purchase of an 8-foot bronze statue in front of the department's Columbia, Mo. headquarters.
Tags: fire department; misuse of funds; taxpayer money; corruption, Boone County Fire
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The Battle Within
After six years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, an all-volunteer Army is sending the same soldiers back again and again, sometimes despite medical findings that they are unfit for battle. Thousands are depending on prescription drugs, including antidepressants, to get through repeated trips to war, and some have died while taking multiple combination of drugs to treat combat stress and other war-related injuries. Suicides in Iraq and Afghanistan tripled from 2004 to 2007, and some of those who killed themselves were sent back to war with antidepressants.
Tags: military; combat fatigue; prescription drugs; suicides; drug addictions
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Exporting Faith
The Boston Globe used "a complete raw database of all USAID awards (prime contracts, grants and agreements) obligated from FY 2001 to FY 2005" to investigate the results of President Bush's Executive Orders that "created the faith based initiative and relaxed federal regulations for religious groups using government funds that once sought to protect church-state separations." The series shows that the percentage of USAID awards going to ngo faith based organizations in 2005 was almost doubled the percentage in 2001, from 10.5% to 19.9%. This creates the potential for problems where aid recipients "might forgo assistance because they don't share in the religion of the provider."
Tags: separation of church and state; faith-based initiatives; foreign aid; executive orders; church-state ties; White House Office of Faith and Community Based Initiatives; President Bush; USAID; NGO; Christian evangelicals; Kenya; Angola; Pakistan; Focus on the Family; James Dobb; FOIA; UNICEF; UNDP; State Department; Samaritan's Purse; National Association of Evangelicals; Americans United for Separation of the Church and State; Global Health Outreach; Offfice of Volunteers for Prosperity; Youth for Christ; World Vision; Yellowbook;
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Archdiocese Hires Criminal
The personnel director for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati knowingly hired a criminal to run a new program designed to protect children. His job was to conduct the fingerprint and background checks now required of all volunteers who coach or help out in Catholic schools. The investigation uncovered the personnel director was a close personal friend of the criminal for more than 20 years and that the troubled young man claimed the personnel director had sexually abused him as a child. He claimed he continued his sexual relationship with the personnel director in exchange for jobs, money and clothes. The criminal had access to the social security numbers of thousands of Catholic volunteers. It was shown how he continued to commit crimes while employed by the Archdiocese, and how the personnel director continued to cover for him, even bailing him out of jail.
Tags: archdiocese; Cincinnati; criminal; social security; sexual abuse; crime; volunteer; hiring; back ground checks
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Fire Alarm
Long Island, the last densely-populated region of the country served almost exlusively by volunteer firefighters, is now paying as much for its small-town service as many U.S. cities do for fully paid departments. In their efforts to cope with waning volunteerism, fire departments here spend extraordinary sums on premium trucks and equipment,travel junkets, enormous firehouses and costly perks- and for paid staff who answer calls, but are hired under every title but firefighter. Despite all the spending, most volunteer fire departments are not getting fire crews to respond as fast as volunteer standards say they should.
Tags: firefighters; volunteer firefighters; response time; perks; fire department budgets
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Oh Say Can You See?
Tisha Thompson gathered a team of experts, historians, sailors and volunteers to help her re-enact Francis Scott Key's journey during the Battle of Fort McHenry, to see if it was actually possible that he saw the American flag when he wrote the Star Spangled Banner. The investigation found that it was not likely for him to have spotted the flag.
Tags: patriotism; national anthem; fourth of July; history; re-enactment
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Qualified to Coach?
WWL-TV investigated the criminal backgrounds of both paid and volunteer coaches of the New Orleans Recreation Department, and found that ten percent of the coaches had names and birthdays that matched those on criminal arrest records. Approximately one year before the investigation started, a coach was murdered on a New Orleans playground in front of his team of 10-year-olds. It turned out that he was a convicted drug felon who was facing more charges at the time of his death.
Tags: New Orleans Recreation Department; coaches with criminal arrest records; caretakers and arrest records