IRE Journal
Koziol, first president of IRE, dies at 74
Ron Koziol, a co-founder of Investigative Reporters and Editors and a member of the Arizona Project team, died Saturday, June 13, of congestive heart failure. He was 74. Koziol was a longtime police reporter at the Chicago Tribune. In 1975 he helped found IRE, and he was a member of the group of reporters who…
Read MoreReporting uncovers Taser abuse by Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The investigation is about the use of Tasers by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the national police force with a storied history that does most of the front-line policing in the Western provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. In the latest installment, we analyzed the 2008 data that we compiled from information from the force’s…
Read MoreAnalysis finds out-of-state travel expenses after Penn. governor ban
We found Pennsylvania state employees spent more than $1.3 million on out-of-state travel last year after the governor banned such travel. How did you get started? (tip, editor assignment, etc.)This was simply a case of the reporter doing a public records check to see whether the travel ban was being followed. Based on past stories…
Read MorePostal Service pays $1.2 million for mansion
At a time when the U.S. Postal Service is experiencing a financial crisis, it purchased a $1.2 million mansion in South Carolina to relocate an employee. The employee, who applied for the new job — a mid-level manager position — qualified for the purchase under the Postal Service’s relocation policy. It turns out this was…
Read MoreInfant death investigations
“Saving Babies: Exposing Sudden Infant Death” was a 14-month project using mortality records maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Analysis of 40,000 mysterious infant deaths over a 12-year period disclosed chaotic procedures police and coroners use to investigate unexpected deaths that usually are diagnosed as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The project went…
Read MoreNo clean air testing at schools
Dozens of public and private schools opened in recent years in areas where government records show students could be exposed to air tainted by high levels of industrial pollution. While environmental regulations typically require builders to examine the effect that a structure might have on the surrounding ecosystem, in most states, school officials are not…
Read MoreJoe Mahr: Towing tales from St. Louis
A private towing company now under federal investigation used a specially created unit of off-duty St. Louis police officers to tow cars during the city’s major Mardi Gras festival. Officers repeatedly towed cars parked outside of a towaway zone set up for the festival each of the past two years. The towing company failed to…
Read MoreInvestigating EPA’s chemical oversight program
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires chemical manufacturers to produce any documentation they may come across that indicates their product could cause “substantial risk” to people or the environment. The companies have 30 days to notify the government once they become aware of this kind of information. This information could come in the form of…
Read MoreReporting ‘The Suicide Bed’
This extraordinary investigation exposes a pattern of cover-up, altered records, and secrecy surrounding a series of deaths inside a state-run mental hospital. KIRO-Seattle’s Team 7 Investigators dug into 29 recent cases of suicide or attempted suicide and found mentally ill patients repeatedly had access to the means to kill themselves without proper monitoring by state…
Read MoreInvestigating Chicago public housing demolitions
This story is part of our ongoing coverage of Chicago’s massive plan to demolish old public housing projects and replace them with new neighborhoods that were supposed integrate public housing residents with wealthier families. Under the plan, more than 13,000 apartments were demolished amid a severe affordable housing shortage in the city. The plan’s backers…
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