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 "drunken driving" ...
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Both Sides of the Law
At least 93 Milwaukee police officers have been disciplined for violating laws and ordinances they were sworn to uphold. The offenses range from sexual assault and domestic violence to drunken driving and shoplifting. Officers who run afoul of the law often aren't fired or prosecuted, and they are allowed to continue enforcing laws the very laws they have broken.
Tags: police misconduct; police department; discipline; law enforcment
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"Dodging DWIs"
The criminal justice system in St. Louis "has failed to punish drunken drivers." After multiple people were killed in drunk driving related accidents, reporters revealed that in St. Louis County, felony charges were not often issued to repeat offenders. Few people accused of a DWI actually have it placed on their record. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has called for an examination of the broken system.
Tags: Jay Nixon; Robert McCulloch; St. Louis; St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney; drunk driving; DWI; DUI; driving while intoxicated
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DUI Series
This series is a comprehensive look at drunken driving in Colorado. It includes specific cases, recommendation of dealing with the problem, and current policies.
Tags: drunk driving; MADD; DUI; DWI; intoxication; accidents; vehicular homicide; Colorado Court Administrator's Office; Division of Behavioral Health;
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Air Marshals: Undercover and Under Arrest
The Federal Air Marshal Service presents the image of an elite undercover force charged with making life-and-death decisions that demand sound judgment. ProPublica found that dozens of air marshals have been charged with crimes, including 18 felonies, and hundreds more have been accused of misconduct. Cases include smuggling drugs past airport security, aiding a human trafficking ring, child sex abuse, bribery, drunken driving, domestic violence, holding an escort against her will during an overnight layover, solicitation to commit murder and voyeurism after one air marshal was caught taking photos of women's genitals on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Tags: air marshals; Transportation Safety Agency; human trafficking; child sex abuse; drunken driving; domestic violence; criminal convictions
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Missing the boat on drunken driving
"Ohio's approach to drunken driving is ineffective and violates the spirit of the Fourth Amendment, and the millions of dollars being poured into sobriety checkpoints should instead be directed to programs that have been proven to be more effective."
Tags: drunk driving; sobriety checkpoints; Fourth Amendment; law enforcement; social drinking
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Fit to Drive?
According to this Dispatch report, "167 school-bus drivers in Ohio have records of drunken driving or drug abuse." The investigation includes a chart of where in Ohio these drivers operate, and also notes the difficulty "for school officials to check backgrounds on drivers or keep those with drunken-driving convictions out of school buses." Individuals with such histories are profiled.The superintendent of the State Highway Patrol is quoted saying that as someone who has arrested drunken drivers, "I would never want any of these people driving a bus."
Tags: buses; drunk driving; drunk driving convictions; background checks; Ohio bus drivers; school buses
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DUI Dilemma
This story investigates how drivers with multiple DUI's are still driving, even when their licenses are suspended. In the course of the investigation it was discovered that "DUI enforcement is often a low priority with police, that deals are routinely cut when cases reach the courts, and that even drunk drivers who are sentenced to prison don't always do the time."
Tags: drunk driving; DUI; police; Cleaveland; jail time; drunken driving
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DWI: Sobering Acquittals; DWI Dismissals: Wrecked Lives; Underage Drinking and Driving: Guilty? Yes. Punished? No.
These stories reveal that North Carolina judges pardoned more than a third of those charged with drunken driving. Using databases from the courts and state alcohol test records, the reporters show how many drunk drivers were acquitted in court and returned to the roads to maim and kill yet more victims. Young drivers between the ages of 16 and 20 were acquitted and their licences were not revoked. Especially in the coastal counties of Carteret, Craven and Pamlico, the conviction rate is less than 15 percent.
Tags: drunk driving; drinking and driving; North Carolina judges; Carteret County; Craven County; Pamlico County; Wake County; North Carolina counties; NC convictions for drinking and driving
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A .10 Isn't Enough
This story deals with alcohol breath analysis. The 1990 conviction rate for drivers who registered .10 or more and were prosecuted for DWI is 85.4 percent. That figure is the lowest since the Safe Roads Act overhauled drunken driving laws eight years before. The courts' treatment of DWI cases is not as consistent as the legislature hopes when it passed the Safe Roads Act. Conviction rates are also inconsistent, varying among North Carolina counties.
Tags: Safe Roads Act; DWI; DUI; Division of Motor Vehicles; Breathalyzer; Intoxilyzer; state DWI conviction rate; Department of Environment; Health and Natural Resources; alcohol concentration; Highway Patrol
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"Judge Fuller"
Tips from people inside and outside the courthouse prompted WAGA-TV to look into how one judge was spending his time. The investigation found the judge was repeatedly leaving work early to spend hours inside an Atlanta bar, while his case backlog became the highest of any judge in the county. Following the story, the judge agreed to a suspension and to enter an alcohol awareness program. But later WAGA-TV found him driving on a suspended license to meet friends at a bar. Following that report he resigned.
Tags: judges; courts; law enforcement; drunken driving