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 "bullets" ...
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Many Bullets, Little Blame
This two-day series uncovered a significant, serious and growing problem in Kansas City: Police routinuely shut down investigations into nonfatal shootings because victims wouldn't talk or detectives had trouble finding them again. Reporter Christine Vendel spent months studying a year's worth of shooting reports, knocking on victims' doors, and interviewing police, experts and others. Her series revealed that 60 percent of the 2011 cases had been shut down, even in instances where other witnesses existed. Meanwhile, charges were filed in only 10 percent of cases, leaving nearly all shooters free to threaten, maim and possibly new victims. The second day of the series drew comparisions to domestic violence issues of 20 years ago, when those victims faced similar problems. Police, prosecutors, lawmakers and others worked on solutions back then -- but no one was working today to help shooting victims. Vendel's series changed that.
Tags: Police; shootings; victims; detectives; prosecutors
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Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America
The books details the startling rise since 1955 in the number of "disabled" mentally ill adults in our society. The book asks if if the "drug-based paradigm of care" in the U.S. is fueling the epidemic of mental illness.
Tags: mental illness; disabled; drugs
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Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America
This book documents how the per-capita disability rate due to mental illness has increased six-fold since 1955, when Thorazine was introduced into asylum medicine. The number of adults on government disability has tripled since 1987, the year Prozac was introduced. Finally, the number of children receiving disability due to a serious mental illness has risen 35-fold since 1987.
Tags: medicine; psychiatry; psychiatric medicine; Thorazine; Prozac; disability; mental illness; National Institute of Mental Health; World Health Organization; American Psychiatric Association;
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Silent Injustice
Through analyzing "thousands of pages of documents" and interviewing "dozens of people," 60 Minutes and the Washington Post found that "there were hundreds of defendants imprisoned, who were convicted with the help of now-discredited forensic tool... The FBI never notified them, their lawyers or the courts that their cases may have been affected by faulty testimony."
Tags: bullet lead analysis; forensic science; evidence; FBI; courts; chemical signatures; bullets; ammunition;
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Evidence of Injustice
Through analyzing "thousands of pages of documents" and interviewing "dozens of people," 60 Minutes and the Washington Post found that "there were hundreds of defendants imprisoned, who were convicted with the help of now-discredited forensic tool... The FBI never notified them, their lawyers or the courts that their cases may have been affected by faulty testimony."
Tags: bullet lead analysis; forensic science; evidence; FBI; courts; chemical signatures; bullets; ammunition; FOIA
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An Un-American Tragedy
Pat Tillman was a former college football star and NFL player who enlisted in the Army and became an Army Ranger after the events of September 11, 2001. His death in 2004 in Afghanistan was presented by the military as a heroic act, but as more details emerged, it became clear that he died not from the enemy's bullets, but rather was a victim of friendly fire. ESPN.com investigated, interviewing some of the soldiers who witnessed the chaos which led to Tillman's death, and examining whether or not the Army artificially inflated Tillman's battlefield deeds in order to present him as a hero.
Tags: Pat Tillman; Army Rangers; death by friendly fire; fratricide; Silver Star; death coverup
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Leading to the Dell Battery Recall
Dell Computers initiated the largest recall of electronic goods in history, possibly influenced partly by this story. Consumer Affairs looked into a report from a woodsman in rural Arizona who said a Dell computer "engulfed his truck." His 1966 Ford F-250 exploded in a fire caused by the laptop, a situation which became even more dangerous thanks to the bullets in the gentleman's glove compartment, sending bystanders diving behind boulders. The man, Thomas Forqueran, provided photos and documents to verify his story. Following the battery recall, Consumer Affiars further reported that Dell may have been aware of the potential problems.
Tags: Laptop battery recall; laptop battery instability; burned computers
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Flawed Body Armor
U.S. Marine Corps purchased about 19,000 supposedly bullet-resistant protective body armor vests from production lots that were failed by government testers for production flaws that made them less resistant to bullets. The Corps sent more than 5,000 of those vests to troops in Iraq and recalled them just days before this story ran.
Tags: army; military; defense; war; federal government; government expenditure; safety; war; body armor vests; military procurement
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Military Menace: Deadly Vehicles
Many of the deaths and injuries to American soldiers in Iraq are the result of vehicle accidents rather than bullets or bombs. Zagaroli's series examines how military vehicles are often out of date, do not have standard safety equipment, and are being driven by soldiers with little or no training. Because the Pentagon did not send enough armored vehicles to Iraq, soldiers fitted their own Humvees with make-shift armor that the vehicles were not designed to carry, which made them more accident prone.
Tags: Pentagon; military equipment; military casualties; Iraq war; war on terror; Operation Iraqi Freedom
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Science Casts Doubt on FBI Bullet Evidence
This story investigated the validity of a forensics technique, comparative lead bullet analysis, that has been used by the FBI crime laboratory since the late 1960's. FBI scientists determine the trace metal profile of a lead slug and then compare bullet profiles. They found there was not a solid scientific backing for this technique and that new research indicates that the conclusions the FBI examiners drew about relationships between were, at best, unwarranted. There was never evidence to conclude that the fact that two bullets share similar trace element profiles means they are in some way connected, and there is now evidence against that conclusion. This is important because the technique is commonly used in murder cases where traditional ballistics cannot be used and, often where there is little evidence.
Tags: forensics; FBI; crime lab; lead bullet analysis; FBI scientists; lead slug; FBI examiners; American Chemical Society; National Academy of Sciences; bullet lead; fingerprint analysis; Iowa State University; National Research Council; Middlesex County Superior Court; crime scene; FBI testimony; National Research Council; rifling-mark analysis