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 "State Troopers" ...
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Driven To Distraction
This seven-month-long investigation revealed serious crashes, injuries and deaths caused by a danger that now exists in virtually every police car in the United States. Dashboard-mounted technology has turned modern patrol cars into offices on wheels. Computers, cameras, GPS devices, radios, smart phones and license plate scanners compete for the officer’s attention while driving, and the consequences of those distractions can be life altering. The series led to significant policy changes at two of the largest police departments in Texas. It sparked action from the world’s largest organization of police leaders. And our reporting also became mandatory safety training viewing for every highway trooper in one state.
Tags: Police; patrol cars; crashes; injuries; deaths; driving safety; highway trooper
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Sun Sentinel: Speeding Cops
A Miami cop in his marked patrol car set off a public fury in the fall of 2011 when a Florida state trooper clocked him going 120 mph to an off-duty job. Turning to technology and a never-before used tool – highway toll records – the Sun Sentinel produced back-to-back investigations documenting widespread police misconduct and the professional solidarity that allowed it to flourish. In "Above the Law," a three-part series published in February, reporters used police toll records to confirm what many South Florida drivers had witnessed for years: cops were among the worst speeders on the roads, taking advantage of the badge and patrol car to ignore the very laws they enforce. "Short Shifted," a two-part series published in December, used those same toll records to detail how many South Florida cops, paid to serve and protect, were regularly leaving their beats and cities before their shifts ended.
Tags: Police; police speeders
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Moonlight Patrol
After a grueling odyssey through the Pennslyvania courts, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the Associated Press obtained heavily redacted copies of 1,038 supplemental employment forms filed over the previous six and a half years by state troopers and the agency's civilian employees. Despite assurances to the contrary, the Trib uncovered numerous violations of statute and state regulations regarding the after-hours employment of the police.
Tags: employment; police; after hours; pittsburgh police
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Road to Nowhere:The men who are caught transporting illegal immigrants rarely pay the price
A Colorado law passed to prohibit human smuggling has proven to be difficult to enforce. Most charges against human smugglers are dismissed or don't end up in court.
Tags: illegal immigration; human smuggling; border; state troopers; smuggler
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Crusier Crashes
The Massachusetts State Troopers have caused nearly 500 cruiser crashes since 2000, most of which occurred while they were commuting or on regular patrol. However troopers are allowed to investigate themselves for accidents with less than $1000 in damages. "About 120 troopers have had four or more accidents over the past seven years."
Tags: state troopers; motor patrol; transportation; accidents; state government
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Unsafe Trucks
This investigation delved into the world of trucking in Alabama where there are too few state troopers, and even fewer inspectors. This story compared the number of truck inspections done in Alabama to other states and the consequences.
Tags: trucks; transportation; Alabama; public safety; truck inspection; weighing stations; Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration; U.S. Department of Administration
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Badge of Privilege/Highway Patrol Coverage
The authors investigated the Tennessee Highway Patrol and found an organization rife with cronyism, where political connections mattered more than skill at a traffic stop or enforcing the law, and a department that turned a blind eye to its own officers when they got in trouble.
Tags: highway patrol; law enforcement; cronyism; State Troopers; honorary programs; FOIA
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The Racial-Profiling question
The investigation shows that state troopers pull over white and minority drivers at the same rate. But once pulled over, minorities are searched more than twice as often as whites. The causes of the disparity range "from the benign to racial profiling by enough troopers to skew the numbers".
Tags: racial profiling; troopers; patrol; search; minorities; driving
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Safe Bet? Shield Booster Seats
Cosco Inc., a subsidiary of Dorel Industries based in Canada in one of the largest manufacturers of child products in the world. Twice in the last ten years, the federal government has caught Cosco covering up injuries and deaths associated with tis products. Dateline NBC has compiled a comprehensive list of serious spinal chord injury and death cases associated with the Grand Explorer child seat and it predecessor, the Explorer. Other companies have discontinued all of their similar models and Cosco is the only company still selling this type of shield booster seat. Dateline talked to state troopers, attorneys, parents of children who died in accidents while riding on the seat, medical examiners, and government sources in this six-month investigation.
Tags: TAPE; shield booster seat; Cosco; Dorel Industries; federal government; state trooper; spinal chord injury; injury; death; child; children; kid; Grand Explorer child seat; Explorer child seat; Canada; medical examiner.
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New Jersey State Troopers
A series of stories focusing on problems within the ranks of New Jersey state troopers. These stories highlighted such problems as an underground society within the ranks that harassed other state troopers and the finding that confidential information was being funneled to politicians for political gains.
Tags: State troopers; racial profiling; scandal; police