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 "fingerprinting" ...
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Finger prints
For almost a century, fingerprint evidence has been a revered cornerstone of the American criminal justice system. But that may soon change. Last fall, in a Baltimore murder case, a judge ruled that fingerprint analysis is not reliable, which shocked lawyers across the country and could possibly put thousands of criminal investigations in jeopardy. CBS News spent months researching the use of fingerprints in murder trials as well as assessing the future of fingerprint evidence.
Tags: fingerprint evidence; Brandon Mayfield; court cases; criminal investigations; attorney; forensic evidence; death penalty
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Trashing the Truth
"Authorities across the country have lost, mishandled or destroyed tens of thousands of DNA samples since genetic fingerprinting revolutionized crime solving 20 years ago."
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Shielded From the Truth
This investigation documented how the Chicago Police Department, civilian investigators and local prosecutors routinely clear officers in shootings before all the witnesses are interviewed, autopsies conducted or basic evidence, including fingerprints and ballistics, analyzed. Over the last decade, not a single on-duty police officer has been charged with shooting a civilian.
Tags: police; shootings; city government; courts; justice department; law enforcement
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Holes in the System: Ohio's Missing Fingerprints
The State of Ohio's database is missing tens of thousands of criminal records used to perform background checks on job applicants for both public and private employers. Without the information, a convicted felon could potentially be hired for a position their conviction would usually preclude them from obtaining. The investigation found that local courts were not fingerprinting defendants who were summoned to court rather than being arrested. The state's computers do not accept a conviction without fingerprints. After finding many examples of convicted criminals' records not existing in the database, the reporters further discovered that some state officials were aware of the issue, but had been slow to act.
Tags: Criminal records; database; fingerprints; convicted felons; background checks
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Archdiocese Hires Criminal
The personnel director for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati knowingly hired a criminal to run a new program designed to protect children. His job was to conduct the fingerprint and background checks now required of all volunteers who coach or help out in Catholic schools. The investigation uncovered the personnel director was a close personal friend of the criminal for more than 20 years and that the troubled young man claimed the personnel director had sexually abused him as a child. He claimed he continued his sexual relationship with the personnel director in exchange for jobs, money and clothes. The criminal had access to the social security numbers of thousands of Catholic volunteers. It was shown how he continued to commit crimes while employed by the Archdiocese, and how the personnel director continued to cover for him, even bailing him out of jail.
Tags: archdiocese; Cincinnati; criminal; social security; sexual abuse; crime; volunteer; hiring; back ground checks
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Reasonable Doubt
This documentary exposes a lack of oversight and integrity at forensic crime labs across the country. It uncovers negligent work, nonexistent standards and even crooked lab employees. The story casts doubt on the reliability of forensic science techniques ranging from fingerprinting to hair analysis to DNA testing.
Tags: crime labs; forensics; science; DNA; law enforcement; crime
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Forensics Under the Microscope
This extensive series by reporters at the Chicago Tribune looks at the erroneous forensic evidence used to convict innocent people of vicious crimes. The investigation looks at the unreliability of some areas of forensic science, including DNA testing, fingerprinting, arson theories, and dental comparisons. As a result of the groundbreaking series, two inmates will be released because of faulty forensic analyses and several pending criminal appeals are using the report as evidence.
Tags: fingerprinting; DNA testing; arson; forensic science; wrongful imprisonment
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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
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Magic bullet?
This story details how Forensic Techonology Inc., a Montreal-based company, won a contract with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to develop a database of ammunition "fingerprints," and questions of how effective the database can be in fighting crime.
Tags: guns; ammunitions; database; crime; forensics
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Shadow of Doubt
David Junior Brown will soon become the first black man to be executed in North Carolina since the death penalty was reinstated in 1996. He might also be the first innocent man. With no confession, no eyewitnesses, no DNA evidence, no blood, and no fingerprints that place him at the scene of the crime, prosecutors relied entirely on circumstantial evidence to convict Brown of an 18-year-old murder.
Tags: None