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 "Florida Department of Law Enforcement" ...
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Hillsborough County School District Land Investigation
The ninth largest U.S. school district, Hillsborough County (FL), in 2006 was "growing fast enough to fill five new schools" per year. To meet the demand, Hillsborough county used the services of 4 private real estate brokers, without using bids, in violation of its own regulations. Three of the four brokers have records of criminal, legal and financial problems. Some of those brokers simultaneously represented the sellers, or flipped the land themselves, resulting in land purchases often made substantially above appraisal values. Reporters from the St. Petersburg Times documented swampland purchases, and school sites surrounded by the homes of sexual predators.
Tags: land; school board; school district superintendent; real estate brokers; realtors; swampland; bidding practices; state FOI; land flipping; rezoning applications; condemnation; assessments; appraisals; financial investigations; land records; wetland maps; FBI investigation; Florida Department of Law Enforcement; Excel; Matthew B. Cox; Chester B. Luney; Fred Edmister; National Realty Associates; school planning; Wilson-Miller; Florida Real Estate Commission; 2606 East Caracus Land Trust; Laurence E. Fuentes; Fuentes and Kreischer Title Co.; Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
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Where's my stuff?
This hidden camera investigation uncovers a scam by internet moving companies. It found some of these internet moving companies stealing consumer's furniture and personal belongings, while overcharging them at the same time A lack of governmental oversight and ineffective federal regulations have created a vacuum that has allowed moving companies to prey on consumers. The laws are rarely enforced, and often times corrupt movers close up shop when there are too many consumer complaints and re-open under new names, making it impossible for consumers to check them out.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; internet moving companies; moving; moving industry; U.S. Movers; Ace Storage Facility; MovingAdvocateTeam.com; Majesty Moving and Storage; Apollo Van Lines; Moving System; AAA Van Lines; Advanced Moving Systems of Sunrise Florida; Department of Transportation; Ameri Van lines; Move-at-once; Adam Moving; Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Motor Carrier Safety Administration; Moving Industry Fraud
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Pharmacy Fakes
With this article, SELF Magazine broke the story of adulterated and counterfeit prescription drugs entering America's pharmacies. The article revealed for the first time, that counterfeiters had systematically infiltrated the domestic drug supply, gaining access to fragile medicines and diluting or falsely relabeling them in order to reap a high profit. They exposed how most of the nation's medicine passes through a vast gray market of wholesalers, and how weak enforcement of federal and state regulations makes it close to impossible to identify where our medicine has come from. The article contains personal accounts from patients who had been harmed by counterfeit medicine, and a report on a Florida investigation which had uncovered potential misconduct at 50 of the state's wholesale companies.
Tags: prescription drugs; pharmacies; counterfeit medicine; tainted drugs; Food and Drug Administration; Prescription Drug Marketing Act; pharmaceutical wholesalers; Florida Department of Law Enforcement; CVS ProCare Pharmacy; Healthcare Distribution Management Association; drugmakers; Jemco Medical International; relabeling; diluting; serostim; Serono; AIDS
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Miami Cops
A Miami Daily Business Review two-year investigation into police criminality reveals "a deadly scandal at the Miami Police Department." The stories document "flaws and bias in the local system used to investigate police shootings." The series started in 2000 with investigation of the death of a 72-year old widower who was machine-gunned by police during a ferocious 1996 drug raid, and of the following $2.5-million settlement of the lawsuit brought by the victim's family. In a federal investigation, Miami officers involved in the shooting were later accused of "conspiracy, lying and fabricating evidence to cover up misconduct," the Review reports. The series also examines "Miami's costly litigation experience over the last decade defending claims of brutality and lawlessness by police."
Tags: indictments; Florida's public record law; crime; litigation; civil rights; SWAT; homicide; conflicts of interest; law enforcement; justice; Miami Office of Professional Compliance; wrongful death; false arrests; abuse
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Impossible Mission
CBS News 48 Hours reports that "Crosley Green was convicted of murder in 1989 and is awaiting execution on Florida's death row. IMPOSSIBLE MISSION follows an investigative 'dream team,' working for free, as it travels to Florida to unravel the case against Green. In just one week this team unearths critical testimony, exposes phony eyewitness accounts and finds new evidence in a case many considered hopeless. IMPOSSIBLE MISSION resulted in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement re-opening Green's case."
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Dangerous Dining
The story examined the restaurant inspection system in two Florida counties. The News-Journal discovered that the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation does not adequately enforce restaurant sanitation laws; does not crack down on restaurants with chronic problems; does far fewer inspections annually than recommended by the federal government; and is hampered by high turnover and an antiquated computer system.
Tags: None