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 "criminal history database" ...
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Concerns in Happy Valley
Penn State's football coach Joe Paterno is the winningest coach in Division I history despite the many criminal charges against his program's players over the years. A database was created using computer assisted reporting to analyze players' Pennsylvania court records over the last seven years.
Tags: Nittany Lions; off-campus; scholarship; NCAA; CAR; Football Bowl Subdivision; Big Ten; linebacker;
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The Federal Contractor Misconduct Database
The Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD) is a Web-based resource that tracks the civil, criminal, and administrative misconduct of the federal government's largest suppliers of goods and services. POGO created the FCMD to ensure that the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars the federal government awards every year in contracts (over $530 billion in fiscal year 2008) go to companies with solid records of responsibility, integrity and performance. POGO developed the FCMD because government contracting officers are required by law to award contracts to responsible vendors only but lack a centralized repository of information on vendors' misconduct histories. To make decisions that are in the best interest of the public and prevent fraud, wasted and abuse, the government must have as much information as possible reflecting the past performance and responsibility of prospective vendors. The FCMD provides this information free to the public in a concise and user-friendly format. The FCMD spotlights each of the top 100 federal contractors. It complies each contractor's instances of misconduct -- actual and alleged -- dating back to 1995. In addition to misconduct instances, the FCMD includes primary source documents and links to the contractors' Web sites, annual reports, SEC filings, and lobbying and campaign finance information. Search and sort features allow users to search the data for key words, or to organize the data in interesting ways. The FCMD is an evolving resource. POGO continually adds and updates instances and contractor information. POGO also periodically updates the contractor list to reflect the most current fiscal year ranking. Each year, the roster of contractors will change, but POGO will keep all old rankings on a special archive page so that eventually the FCMD will include hundreds of contractors.
Tags: government contracts; computer-assisted reporting; database work; government oversight; misconduct
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Bus Drivers
"The Channel 8 I-team investigated the criminal histories of all of Clark County School Bus Drivers. Major findings include: 13% of drivers had come in contact with the courts, either arrested, cited or charged with a crime, 5% of those resulted in convictions, including 6 convictions for driving under the influence."
Tags: bus drivers; criminal convictions; database searches; criminal records; DUI; public safety; children safety
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Crisis in the Courts
Walsh's story focuses on a faulty criminal history database. Maine's criminal records system is in complete disrepair, and actually causes more harm than good. Judges and prosecutors find the system so unorganized, they don't know if a defendant has committed any prior crimes in the state. This results in bails set too low and sentences that are too lenient.
Tags: criminal history database; criminal justice system of Maine; Domestic Violence Advisory Committee; Maine Governor John Baldacci