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 "Nevada" ...
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RGJ: ATF/US Attorney Rift
A months-long Reno Gazette-Journal investigation found that after Reno’s chief U.S. Attorney told local ATF agents that her office would not prosecute their cases until certain unnamed “issues” were resolved, most of the agents transferred to new jobs outside Nevada, leaving Reno vulnerable to gun violence. The investigation found that the federal prosecutors dismissed or refused more than a dozen cases involving violent criminals. The RGJ probe also revealed that dozens of people who bought guns and later failed background checks were allowed to keep the guns because the rift emptied the Reno ATF office of the very agents who are tasked with retrieving those guns. The RGJ series led to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and an independent review of the dropped cases. It also sparked Congressional action.
Tags: Department of Justice; guns; gun violence
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Deadly Force: When Las Vegas Police Shoot, and Kill
In the wake of two controversial officer-involved deaths in the summer of 2010, the Las Vegas Review-Journal asked a simple question: Are Las Vegas police too quick to shoot? What reporters Lawrence Mower, Brian Haynes and Alan Maimon found in a groundbreaking analysis of all police shootings in Clark County since 1990 stunned even veteran police administrators: Local cops had shot at people 378 times, resulting in 142 deaths. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department alone was involved in 311 incidents resulting in 116 deaths. By any measure, Nevada's largest law enforcement agency uses deadly force more often than counterparts in the region and in other major cities surveyed.
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Do No Harm
For the first time, reporters published an analysis of Nevada's state hospital records and revealed nearly 1000 cases of preventable harm to patients over the past decade. There are also reports of widespread hospital-acquired infections and countless cases of accidental surgical injuries. The reporters show that hospitals have tried to keep this information hidden from the public.
Tags: hospital care; preventable harm; transparency; surgical injuries; public records
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RGJ Special Report: DUI in Nevada
The reporter found that licenses were being granted too soon to DUI offenders whose accidents had caused death or substantial bodily harm. Offenders were not serving their full two years behind bars and instead were allowed to get out on a house arrest program.
Tags: DUI; drunk driving; Department of Corrections; Mothers Against Drunk Driving; prison
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"Do No Harm: Hospital Care in Las Vegas"
This two-year investigation delved deep into Nevada's hospital care. Using state records of hospital patients, the reporters were able to "tap meaningful information" and uncover some frightening statistics on the state's level of health care. The Sun analyzed records dating back to 1986 that had never before been made public.
Tags: Nevada; health care; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; CAR; Mountain View Hospital; UNLV; Empowered Patient Coalition
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"Killer Roads"
Reporter Thomas Hargrove analyzed road segments across the United States to identify dangerous and potentially fatal flaws in the highways. He found that highway fatalities are on the rise, and the cause of these deaths is becoming more and more unclear. Some of the most dangerous roads can be found in California, Arizona and Nevada.
Tags: US Department of Transportation; Scripps Howard; Pacific Coast Highway; San Bernardino
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Nevada DUI
This investigation found a number of frightening facts, which could change many lives. One of the first findings is “judges have not been following a 1997 law that requires them to order the installation of interlock devices for all offenders convicted of DUIs causing death or substantial bodily harm.” Also, many previous offenders were convicted of a second DUI and had blood alcohol levels (BACs) considered of those with an alcohol abuse problem. Further, found that DUI offenders released from prison didn’t have their licenses restricted for three years after the conviction.
Tags: drunk drivers; laws; Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV); interlock devices; prosecutors; parole officials; probation officials; death; harm; courts; convictions
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Las Vegas Construction Deaths
Workers had been dying at a rate of one every six weeks -- 12 deaths in 18 months -- until contractors made sweeping safety improvements after the Las Vegas Sun revealed that poor safety practices and lax oversight by state regulators had contributed to the fatalities. Before the story, construction safety had been a non-issue in Las Vegas. The deaths were considered the cost of doing business in a $32 billion building boom, the biggest in Las Vegas history. High-rise construction is dangerous, authorities said. Contractors and state regulators blamed many of the accidents on the dead workers themselves. This investigation found those arguments were "plainly wrong."
Tags: Occupational Safety and Health Administration; Las Vegas; construction work; worker deaths; property; contractors; Nevada state regulations
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The New Addiction
Nevada per capita are the nation's number one users of hydrocodone, the narcotic in Vicodin and Lortab. The amount of painkiller abuse in the state was found after analyzing the Drug Enforcement Administration's controlled substance database.
Tags: prescription drugs; medicine; pharmaceuticals; methadone; oxycodone; DEA;
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Nevada Bounty Hunters
KLAS-TV investigates the rights that bounty hunters have while in search of a fugitive. It includes "the legal authority to enter private property while in search of wanted fugitives," which is only regulated by "the state division that regulates insurance."
Tags: bounty hunter; fugitive; search; injuries; law enforcement;