Resource Center

Stories

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 "Rodney King" ...

  • Riot baby

    Ten years after the Rodney King scandal and the subsequent riots in South Central Los Angeles, reporter Daniel Voll examines the situation in that area of the Californian metropolis. He does it by depicting the lifestyle of Jelani Stewart, who was born in the same days the riots took place. Voll writes in his initial paragraph: "(...) the people are still poor, there's not enough work, and the gang violence is bad and getting worse."

    Tags: Rodney King; South Central Los Angeles; riots

    By Daniel Voll

    Esquire Magazine

    2002

  • Are you experienced?

    This story deals with police brutality. It narrates the death of Mexican legal immigrant Luis Alfonso Torres after he was detained by three members of the Police Dept. of the city of Baytown, west of Houston (Texas). The detention was filmed by a camera mounted on one of the squad's car. When he was detained, Bernstein says, Torres was "suffering from hypertension" and unarmed. "It's bigger than the Rodney King video. After all, in this incident someone died", says a Houston-based Hispanic activist quoted in the story. "Cops killing Mexicans is not new to Harris County", Bernstein says and adds in 1999 the Mexican consulate "proposed a travel warning to advise fellow citizens against visiting Houston because of all the police shootings in the area."

    Tags: Baytown Police; Harris County; Harris County District Attorney's Office; Texas ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union); Emergency Medical Service (EMS); Baytown Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

    By Jake Bernstein

    Texas Observer (Austin, Texas)

    2002

  • Black and Blue: Why does America's richest black suburb have some of the country's most brutal cops?

    According to the article;"The cops in Maryland's second most populous county (Prince George's County) had a reputation for turning routine traffic stops into Rodney King incidents sans video camera." Article explains why the suburb has become known for its brutal cops.

    Tags: police

    By Ta-Nehisi Coates

    Washington Monthly

    2001

  • A Story of Refugee Success Ended Tragically in Riots

    The Los Angeles Times reports that "Thanh Lam was slain at a stoplight. As his family grieves, many are trying to find his killers...Lam lived through war, survived a perilous sea journey to freedom and endured a year's stay in a Malaysian refugee camp before coming to America. And then, (in June), the 25-year-old man was shot dead, sitting in his pickup truck waiting for a traffic light to change at a corner in Compton..."

    Tags: Minority; LA riots; Rodney King

    By Victor Merina

    Los Angeles Times

    1992

  • Keeping the thin blue line in line

    The LA Times Magazine profiles Katherine Mader, the LAPD's first-ever inspector general, charged with policing the police. It's a tough job, made all the tougher by Mader's background as a defense attorney and her damn-the-torpedos style.

    Tags: Warren Christopher Corruption Rodney King

    By Matt Lait

    Los Angeles Times Magazine

    1998

  • Just how dangerous is Los Angeles

    Violence in L.A. has dropped in recent years. Since the riots there has been a change in attitudes about violence, according to some residents. Police are now trained in social skills and problem solving. The article looks at volunteer programs that might have contributed to the decrease in crime.

    Tags: Bank robbery; Rodney King; earthquake

    By Carolyn Ramsay

    Buzz

    1997

  • No title (id: 13225)

    Five years since the night Tim Wind helped arrest Rodney King, he and his family have still not been able to regain their lives. Once troubled by telephone death threats, Wind is now struggling to maintain his identityand build a life for his family, despite the incident that will be with him forever. (March 1996)

    Tags: Granger The Unforgiven Los Angeles Poice Department LAPD Brutality 6 pgs.

    By None

    GQ Magazine

    1996

  • No title (id: 12927)

    ABC News examines the FBI's lack of investigation into police brutality. Despite the mandates and the widespread pubic outcry against police brutality, still resonating nearly five years after the televised beating of Rodney King, the FBI has yet to even come close to matching the promises from Washington with action. (Dec. 13, 1995)

    Tags: Ross The FBI: missing in action Contest entry 14pgs

    By None

    ABC News Primetime Live

    1995

  • No title (id: 9029)

    KTTV-TV (Los Angeles) examines evidence left out of the trial of the Los Angeles police officers accused of brutalizing Rodney King; jurors now say they would have changed their not guilty votes had they seen the evidence, Nov. 11 - 13, 1992.

    Tags: TAPE

    By None

    KTTV-TV (Los Angeles)

    1992

  • No title (id: 8413)

    L.A. Weekly (Los Angeles) investigates complaints against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in light of the publicity that the L.A. Police Department has received over the Rodney King affair, and finds a department that routinely conducts coverups of brutality by sheriff deputies, Nov. 8, 1991.

    Tags: None

    By None

    LA Weekly

    1991