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 "911 tape" ...
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Des Moines Register Reader's Watchdog
The Des Moines Register Reader's Watchdog column that takes on issues faced by individual Iowans who are at wits’ end and can't get answers from public officials, businesses and the justice system. Watchdog reporter Lee Rood's job is to give voice to readers who present important issues, to investigate all sides of those issues and to seek solutions that eluded others. This is a unique effort that both engages readers and values traditional watchdog reporting. At a time when journalists are seeking to remain relevant, build credibility and engage readers, she has launched this initiative that focuses not on the stories that she thinks are important, but on issues that are critical to our readers. In the past year, she wrote more than 60 columns, digging into watchdog issue brought to her by Iowans. Her work has put a new spotlight on wrongs that needed righting. Her work has led state lawmakers to propose legislation that requires Iowans to call 911 if they are present at the scene of an overdose. She has prodded the state attorney general's office to develop a plan to enforce laws that require companies to have worker's compensation insurance. She has fought through red tape for readers who didn't have someone in their corner to do so. Lee Rood's bold move to launch a new form of watchdog journalism for the Des Moines Register has made Iowans' lives better. Online, this body of work lives at DesMoinesRegister.com/ReadersWatchdog.
Tags: Public officials; businesses; justice system
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The No-Fly List
CBS News reported that the No-Fly List, compiled after 9/11 to "prevent an Islamic terrorist who's associated with al-Queda from getting on a plane" is "incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, and a source of aggravation to thousands of innocent Americans." The version available to airport screeners is "sanitized of the most sensitive information", because "intelligence agencies that supply the names don't want them circulated to airport employees in foreign countries for fear that they could end up in the hands of terrorists." Before 9/11 the list had 16 names on it; after 9/11, the list grew to include 44 thousand names, not including an additional 75 thousand names on the additional security screening list. Now there's another list: names of people who have shouldn't be on the first list. You have to apply to get on that list. The list airport screeners see has no birth dates or physical descriptions. For the past three years, the TSA has spent about 144 million dollars to develop a program called Secure Flight-- it hasn't been implemented yet.
Tags: Department of Homeland Security; anti-war activists; Iraq; No-Fly List; wiretaps; FBI; Excel; heads-of-state; Transportation Security Administration; TSA; data dump; National Security News Service; Joe Trento; NSA; Zaccarias Moussaoui; FBI Terrorist's Screening Center; Donna Bucella; Dawud Salahuddin; David Belfield; Kip Hawley; Cathy Berrick; General Accounting Office; Secure Flight
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The Final Hours of Miguel Contreras
Labor leader and Los Angeles power-broker Miguel Contreras was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Los Angeles, the week before the 2005 mayoral election. No autopsy was performed, and doctors were pressured to sign a death certificate. The article outlines political power bases in Los Angeles, and speculates how various issues would have had different results if Contreras had lived.
Tags: organ harvesting; autopsy; botanica; 911 tape; labor leader; coroner; Los Angeles County Federation of Labor; LAPD; United Farmworkers; UFW; Centinela Freeman Memorial Hospital; Daniel Freeman Hospital
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A 911 Emergency
A WISH-TV (Indianapolis, IN) investigation exposed a public safety crisis resulting from a shortage of 911 operators. Inadequate staffing led to emergency calls being placed "on hold." Delays in answering led to delays in responding to emergencies. In addition, use of cell phones and computer-based phones adds to the response time as they do not provide dispatchers with the caller's location. Without this information, dispatchers are unable to determine where to send help. Reporters also looked at the historical problem of agencies not being able to "talk" to each other directly.
Tags: emergency dispatch systems; emergency dispatch response times; cell phone; 911; emergency dispatcher burnout; public-safety communications; Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, APCO; enhanced wireless 911; Voice over Internet Protocol; VoIP; TTY; public safety answering point; PSAP; telecommunications; multiple line telephone system; MLTS; PBX-MLTS; National Association of State 911 Administrators; NASNA; Metropolitan Emergency Communication Agency; MECA; failsoft; Motorola
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Failed 9-1-1
A 19 year old Hillsborough County youth died from an asthma attack because an enhanced 9-1-1 system, required by law and paid for by customers, was not in place. The authors also found that the fire rescue back-up systems were not in place.
Tags: emergency services; Hillsborough County; public safety; enhanced 9-1-1 system
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Rural Gangs Series
This investigation showed the spread of big-city gang activity into rural areas and small towns. After 9/11, many local anti-gang units were cut in favor of counter-terrorism forces. Consequently, gangs are growing and there is little resistance. The investigation focuses specifically on gang activity in Durham, North Carolina.
Tags: gangs; bloods; crips; drug running; arms sales; extortion; gang wars; North Carolina Gang Investigators Association
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Dialing Danger
This investigative story spanning 16 months exposed several problems with the 911 dialing system in Denver. According to these investigations, there were many instances when people were put on hold, waiting for emergency care. One such instance was a homicide call which delayed the response by several minutes.
Tags: 911 emergency system; emergency dialing; Denver 911 system; police; homicide; emergency care
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911 Test
What's unique about the 911 emergency system in Rhode Island is that it allows operators to trace a persons location using a GPS system. As this story explains, this system can be useful only if the cell phones have a GPS chip in it, which is present only in newer models.
Tags: 911; emergency calls; GPS technology; cell phones; mobile phones; GPS mapping
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Cockpit Security
According to this report, French airline company, Air Tahiti Nui leaves the door to the cockpit open on international flights even the ones coming into the United States. Aviation regulations require that the door remain closed from take-off to touch-down. When this station contacted the Federal Aviation Administration, they were told that foreign carriers could not be regulated with the same rules.
Tags: French airline; Air Tahiti Nui; 9/11; cockpit safety; cockpit; pilots; Federal Aviation Administration
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911 Disconnect
Emergency 911 might not be the most direct and quickest source of help in case you need it. At least not in Atlanta, as WSB TV discovers. Here, calls for emergency help "must be put on hold and transferred to a county operator". These county operators are the only ones that can dispatch an ambulance. This circumlocution procedure ones resulted in an ambulance arriving 18 minutes late, as the victim in question eventually met his fate.
Tags: 911; Atlanta Fire Department; Christian Henderson; Mayor Shirley Franklin