The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. Add to that more than 3,000 tipsheets from our national conferences on how to cover specific beats or do specific stories and you have a resource that no reporter or editor should be without. These stories and tipsheets 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. Logged-in members can view the tipsheets free online:
Search results for "criminal records" ...
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Check your sources: Figuring out what criminal justice data and documents really say
Gabrielson's tipsheet addresses identifying the shortcomings in data - specifically criminal justice data. Gabrielson points out common mistakes made when using the data, and how to avoid them.
Tags: Uniform Crime Reports; police records; Federal Bureau of Investigations; FBI; clearance rates; clearance rates; conviction rates
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Criminal justice investigations: tips from unexpected people and documents
This tipsheet touches on unexpected people and documents in criminal justice reporting. "Rivalries and jealousies open the door to tips and document leaks for well-positioned reporters." Diedrich details a number of these type of sources and materials.
Tags: crime; justice; police; Federal Bureau of Investigation; probation agents; judges; clerks; convicts; warrants; arrest reports; autopsy records; indictments; trial exhibits
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Backgrounding People and Businesses on the Web
Dowdell provides a helpful framework for all your backgrounding needs. Starting with a strategy and some basic questions, she provides suggested helpful links for finding information on people and businesses on the web.
Tags: backgrounding; background check; business; property records; court records; public records; criminal background check; campaign contributions; politicians; articles of incorporation; business license; professional license
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Tips on Backgrounding People
Edds offers sources to find dates of birth, telephone numbers, criminal records, driving histories, financial information, education information and newspaper clips to assist you in backgrounding people.
Tags: backgrouding; internet research; online sources; news research
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Backgrounding People on the Internet
This extensive guide to researching people online contains a long list of useful sources including news archives, people/business finders, city data, county data, criminal histories and occupational licenses. The tipsheet also includes Guckian's own suggestions about how to get the most out of search engines and public records.
Tags: internet; backgrounding; sources; web sites; people finder; social networking sites
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Justice: From Arrests to Death Row
Clarke lists resources for finding criminal records, such as defense attorneys and local law enforcement agencies. She also includes advice for building a database of criminal records; she includes tips like "keep a paper record" and "do spot checks."
Tags: justice system; criminal records data; building databases; data analysis
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Tips on Backgrounding People
Edds includes a list of resources to help reporters background their sources. She includes ways to find date of birth, telephone numbers, criminal records, driving history, financial information, education, and other miscellaneous facts.
Tags: backgrounding; deep web; professional license; criminal records; public records; online research
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Getting started on the cops beat
Ploheski's tipsheet is a guide for new crime reporters who want to excel immediately. It contains advice for cultivating sources, establishing your presence, obtaining records, and being thorough. It also includes one of Plohetski's crime stories for the Austin-American Statesman.
Tags: crime; police; law enforcement; justice system; criminals; jail; prison; victims; murder; cops
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Policing the Police
Sward explains how she and other colleagues at the San Francisco Chronicle reported on the unnecessary force used by some members of the San Francisco Police Department. They ultimately exposed that one of the officers, the son of an assistant chief of police, was still on probation and had amassed a long string of incidents in which he used force on suspects, when he was accused of getting into a brawl with two civilians over a bag of steak fajitas. She explains what records they obtained, how their database was built and what they would do differently next time.
Tags: law enforcement; crime; police officers; FOI; public records; criminal justice system
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Investigating the past with results in the present
Mitchell summarizes methods for constructing investigations that probe beyond the recent past. He suggests research methods, useful records and human sourcing techniques that he employed in his IRE Award-winning investigation of unresolved murder cases during the civil rights era in Mississippi.
Tags: open records; courts; law enforcement; justice; criminal justice system; crime; public records; history; historical investigations; law