IRE Radio Podcast | Broken Breath Tests

Police rely on alcohol breath tests to convict drunken drivers. But what happens when the machines they use aren’t reliable? Stacy Cowley of The New York Times looked into the problem of faulty breath test machines and found thousands of cases where the tests were thrown out. On this episode, Stacy breaks down how she discovered unreliable breath tests and the consequences they pose for real people.

You can find the podcast on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Play. If you have a story you think we should feature on the show, drop us a note at web@ire.org. We’d love to hear from you.

RESOURCES

Looking for links to the stories and resources we discussed on this week's podcast? We've collected them for you.

• Read The New York Times investigation into alcohol breath tests.
• Read the follow-up story on rolling retests.
• Watch “The Weekly” episode “Guilty by Machine” on Hulu.
• Sign up for IRE’s I-Team Toolkit newsletter for resources on investigative reporting for broadcast journalists.

MUSIC

Calisson  (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

Grey Grey Joe (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

Fifteen Street (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

Arizona Moon (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

Two in the Back (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

CREDITS

Kelly Kenoyer reported this episode. IRE Editorial Director Sarah Hutchins edits the podcast. We are recorded in the studios of KBIA at the University of Missouri.